Isis: Dagenham man Mohammed Mohsin Ameen jailed for sending 8,000 pro-Daesh tweets

A man who sent 8,000 tweets promoting terrorist group Islamic State (Isis), including one with a link to one of their beheading videos, has been jailed for five years. Mohammed Mohsin Ameen, 23, of Dagenham, pleaded guilty to five counts of encouraging terrorism and one count for dissemination of a terrorist publication at the Old Bailey on 31 March.

The court heard how Ameen had used 42 different Twitter handles from 16 accounts to send thousands of messages of support for Isis between May and October 2015. One tweet featured a picture of Ameen – with his head cropped out of shot – holding a machete with the caption: "Machete looking sick".

Ameen also tweeted messages celebrating the 9/11 terror attacks in New York, stating: "#TheMagnificent19 May you all get accepted in the highest ranks and multiply your kind! #Happy 911."

Following his arrest in October 2015 at his east London home, officers from the Metropolitan Police's Counter Terrorism Command (SO15) seized 90 digital devices including mobile phones, USB sticks, a laptop and SIM cards where they found more offending material sent by Ameen.

Ameen was sentenced to sentenced to five years' imprisonment for supporting a proscribed organisation and four years' five counts of encouraging terrorism and one count for dissemination of a terrorist publication, both to run concurrently.

Commander Dean Haydon of SO15, said: "The harm of spreading of hate and encouraging others to commit offences cannot be underestimated. My officers sifted through over four million terabytes of data and collected extensive evidence to build their case and prove that Ameen was behind the thousands of pro-Daesh [Isis] tweets.

"I urge anyone who is aware of tweets, videos, pictures or any other material they are concerned may be terrorist propaganda to report it, this can be done anonymously."