A Bury man has been jailed for three years after collecting extremist content and using a phone in prison
Twenty year old Muhammad Zakir Arif was already serving a sentence for possession of knives, assaulting a police officer during interview, and refusing to provide PIN numbers for his mobile phones.
During sentencing, His Honour Judge Conrad KC considered the defendants age and early guilty pleas, as well as a previous sentence of three years already served for linked offences. He remarked that, for an adult, the offences would have attracted a sentence in the region of six years in custody.
Passing sentence HHJ Conrad applied a special custodial sentence for offenders of particular concern and commented to the defendant that, based on the information provided in the hearing, “it is clear that you have no desire to rehabilitate”.
Arif was originally jailed for several offences in September 2024 following an investigation by Counter Terrorism Policing North West (CTPNW). This included possession of knives, assaulting a police officer during interview, and failing to comply with a Section 49 Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act (RIPA) notice by refusing to provide PIN numbers for his mobile phones.
Detectives who had served the original RIPA notice were subsequently able to access data from Arif’s phone and found multiple files containing extremist content. This included numerous videos released by extremist organisations encouraging “believers” to conduct terrorist attacks and offering advice on how this could be done.
Whilst in prison for the original offences, an inspection of Arif’s cell discovered two hidden mobile phones. He initially claimed the phones weren’t his, however an inspection of one of the phones showed that it had been used by Arif to contact associates outside the prison
