Teenager convicted of multiple terrorism offences

A man has pleaded guilty to a number of terrorism offences linked to sharing terrorist material online following an investigation by the Met’s Counter Terrorism Command.

Leo Walby, 19 (08.08.2005) of Swanley, Kent, pleaded guilty at the Old Bailey on 2 April to six counts of dissemination of terrorist material, contrary to section 2 of the Terrorism Act (TACT), 2006. He also pleaded guilty to one count of failing to disclose a password, after being served notice, contrary to section 53, Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act (RIPA), 2000.

Walby was arrested on 4 October, 2024, as part of a proactive investigation by officers from the Counter Terrorism Command. He was arrested at an address in Swanley, Kent and officers also carried out a search at the address and seized various digital devices.

As the investigation progressed, officers found evidence that Walby had been sharing various posts sharing extreme Islamist-related terrorist material, including Daesh propaganda through various social media accounts he was controlling.

Walby was charged on 5 October 2024, with six counts of disseminating terrorist material. As the investigation continued, officers also applied to the court for a 'section 49 notice' to compel Walby to provide them with a password to a cloud-based storage account he held.

However, even after the notice was obtained from the court, Walby still refused to provide officers with the password, so he was subsequently charged with failing to provide the password, contrary to section 53, Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act (RIPA), 2000.

Commander Dominic Murphy, head of the Met's Counter Terrorism Command said: "Our investigation found that Walby was sharing various pieces of terrorist material across a number of social media accounts he was controlling. This kind of content can be extremely harmful, so where we identify people like Walby who are responsible for this, then we will take action and he is now facing the very serious consequences of doing this.

"I'd encourage anyone who comes across extremist or terrorist material online to report it to our specialist team who will review to determine whether further police action is necessary and appropriate."

Anyone who sees what they believe to be extremist or terrorist-related material can report it via www.gov.uk/ACT.

After pleading guilty to the above offences, Walby was remanded in custody and is due to appear for sentencing at the Old Bailey on 9 May.