Barber, 43, found guilty of sending thousands of pounds to fund terrorist activity in Syria
8 December 2022, 23:54
A west London barber has been found guilty of sending thousands of pounds to fund terrorist activity in Syria.
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Tarek Namouz, 43, from west London, was arrested in May 2021 in a pre-planned operation by counter terrorism officers.
When officers visited his flat to arrest him, he told officers he didn’t have a phone. But during a search, detectives found one hidden in a recess under a drawer.
After analysing his phone, officers discovered messages between Namouz and a Daesh supporter in Syria, including two videos – one which gave instructions on how to create and improvised explosive device, and another on detailing how to carry out knife attacks.
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Records showed Namouz – who ran and lived above a barber shop in Hammersmith - sent £11,280 to his contact in Syria over a number of months.
However, whilst on remand, he was recorded telling a visitor who had come to see him in prison that he had sent more than double that amount – around £25,000.
On Wednesday, December 8 at Kingston Crown Court, Namouz was found guilty of eight counts of funding terrorism and two counts of possessing information likely to be useful for terrorism.
He will be sentenced on Thursday, 5 January 2023.
Commander Richard Smith, who leads the Met’s Counter Terrorism Command, said: "Terrorist groups rely on funding to carry out their activities and to continue to operate.
"People like Namouz who provide money to terrorist groups - both in the UK and overseas - are enabling others to go and commit serious and deadly attacks, and we will always pursue and investigate those people and seek to bring them to justice."
