Man who had bomb-making guide on his phone jailed

A man who admitted possessing extreme right-wing terrorism documents, including a bomb-making guide, has been jailed, after an investigation by the Met’s Counter Terrorism Command.

As part of an investigation into indecent images of children being posted online, police raided the home address of Vitor Dias, 21 (04.03.2003) of Willesden, on 17 May 2022.

Dias was not arrested but two mobile phones were seized and the contents were downloaded and analysed.

A large amount of extreme right-wing terrorist material was recovered, including guides on how to make explosives, firearms and ammunition.

Commander Dominic Murphy, head of the Met's Counter Terrorism Command, said: “This case demonstrates that we will arrest and prosecute anyone accessing terrorist material.

“I am grateful to the work of colleagues in the Wembley Online Child Sexual Abuse and Exploitation unit who uncovered Dias’s offending after his phones were seized.

“This case was also a successful example of the use of risk management software installed on the devices of those convicted of sexual offences.

“This case demonstrates that units from across the Met are committed to safeguarding vulnerable victims and specialist resources from counter terrorism will support the excellent work of officers and staff. Their excellent work allowed my officers to uncover the threat Dias posed.”

Dias was arrested on 8 September 2022 and subsequently charged on 3 October 2023 with four counts of possessing a document containing information useful for a terrorist purposes, contrary to section 58(1)(b) of the Terrorism Act 2000.

He pleaded guilty to these charges at the Old Bailey on 5 August 2024.

PC Merima Salkovic of North West BCU JIGSAW team ran a parallel investigation in to Dias leading to him being charged with two counts of possessing an extreme pornographic image, one count of making an indecent photograph of a child, category B and one count of making an indecent photograph of a child category C.

Dias appeared at Willesden Magistrates’ Court on 17 December 2024 and pleaded guilty to the first three charges. The making indecent images of a child, category C, will remain on file.

He was sentenced at the Old Bailey on 24 April to a total of three years in jail. He was also made subject of a 10-year Sexual Harm Prevention Order.

Dias was convicted on 31 March 2023 for the making of indecent images of children, and possession of prohibited images of children. He was placed on the Sex Offenders Register for five years and was managed by Wembley Jigsaw Unit.

As part of his conviction he was also given a Sexual Harm Prevention Order lasting for five years, which meant he had various prohibitions placed upon him, including risk management software to be installed on his electronic devices.