Published by Robert L Senior Reporter on Wednesday 9th April 2025 at 07:10hrs
A 19-year-old man from Swanley, Kent, has admitted to multiple terrorism offences after an investigation by the Metropolitan Police’s Counter Terrorism Command revealed he had been sharing terrorist material online.
Leo Walby, born on August 8, 2005, pleaded guilty at the Old Bailey on April 2 to six counts of disseminating terrorist material, a crime under Section 2 of the Terrorism Act (TACT) 2006.
He also pleaded guilty to one count of failing to disclose a password, contrary to Section 53 of the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act (RIPA) 2000.
Walby was apprehended on October 4, 2024, as part of a proactive investigation by the Met’s Counter Terrorism Command.
Officers arrested him at an address in Swanley and subsequently searched the property, seizing several digital devices.
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The investigation uncovered evidence that Walby had been using various social media accounts to share extreme Islamist-related terrorist material, including propaganda from the Daesh terrorist group.
Following his arrest, Walby was charged on October 5, 2024, with six counts of disseminating terrorist material.
As the investigation progressed, officers obtained a ‘section 49 notice’ from the court, compelling Walby to provide the password to a cloud-based storage account he controlled. Despite the court order, Walby refused to cooperate, leading to an additional charge of failing to provide the password under RIPA.
Commander Dominic Murphy, Head of the Met’s Counter Terrorism Command, emphasized the seriousness of Walby’s actions.
“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.”
He urged the public to remain vigilant and report any extremist or terrorist material encountered online to the specialist Counter Terrorism team via http://www.gov.uk/ACT.
After admitting to the offences, Walby was remanded in custody and is scheduled to appear for sentencing at the Old Bailey on May 9.
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