Terrorist from Leyton who discussed police station attacks on Telegram jailed

Ismail Kissa, 24, from Leyton, east London, was stopped at Stansted Airport on March 29 last year and two mobile phones were seized.

On the devices, a number of disturbing files and videos linked to Daesh and Islamist terrorism were found by counter-terrorism officers from the Eastern Region Special Operations Unit.

Kissa was a member of various extremist chat groups on the Telegram app, the Old Bailey heard on Tuesday.

He engaged in conversations about the importance of target selection for a terrorist attack, including reference to police stations.

Kissa was subsequently charged with possessing a document useful to a terrorist in relation to instructions on how to make a Molotov Cocktail and 13 charges of disseminating terrorist publications.

The defendant, who was said to be on the autistic spectrum, pleaded guilty to all the charges against him in February.

Commander Dominic Murphy, head of the Metropolitan Police’s Counter Terrorism Command, said: “We know that the sharing of this type of material online can lead to people becoming radicalised – particularly some young people who may be more vulnerable to malign influences.

“If you see this kind of material online, or are aware of anyone sharing it, I would urge you to report it to us so we can take appropriate action.”