A west London man who arranged for thousands of pounds to be smuggled to Turkey to fund terrorism has been jailed, following an investigation by the Met’s Counter Terrorism Command.
In January 2014, Aine Leslie Davis (11.02.84) of no fixed address, arranged with his partner to have 20,000 Euros brought from the UK to a contact of his in Turkey.
However, police seized the money before it could be taken abroad.
Aine Davis, age 39, jailed
Davis was detained in Turkey in 2015, and jailed for seven-and-a-half years by the Turkish authorities for membership to Daesh.
Upon serving his sentence and being released, he was deported to the UK last August and arrested by counter terrorism officers.
At the Old Bailey on Monday, 13 November, he was sentenced to eight years’ imprisonment after pleading guilty to fundraising for terrorism at an earlier hearing.
Commander Dominic Murphy, who leads the Met’s Counter Terrorism Command, said:
“Davis arranged for a large sum of money to be smuggled from the UK to fund the terrorist activities of Daesh – a group he had travelled to Syria to join.
“It has been nearly ten years since Davis committed these crimes, and I hope this case sends a message that we will relentlessly pursue and seek to prosecute anyone involved in terrorism both in the UK and abroad, no matter how much time has passed.
“The Met and the entire Counter Terrorism Policing network works closely with international partners to bring to justice people like Davis who go to lengths to fund terrorist groups.”
In January 2014, when Davis was in Syria, he arranged with his wife Amal El-Wahabi for 20,000 Euros to be brought to him from the UK.
However, the money was seized before it could be taken out of the country and El-Wahabi was arrested.
Phone data revealed calls and messages between El-Wahabi and Davis, which demonstrated the planning for the trip and the exchange of the money.
Officers also recovered images Davis had sent of himself to El-Wahabi.
One showed him holding a firearm, with a group of other men believed to be Daesh members.
In November 2014, El-Wahabi was jailed for 28 months after being convicted of funding terrorist activity (contrary to Section 17 of the Terrorism Act 2000).
A second person, aged 27 at the time, was found not guilty of the same offence.
Davis was arrested by officers from the Met’s Counter Terrorism Command at Luton Airport on 10 August 2022, following his deportation from Turkey.
He was taken to a south London police station, and charged with the above offences.
He first appeared at Westminster Magistrates’ Court later on 11 August 2022.
Davis pleaded guilty to fundraising for terrorism (contrary to section 15 of the Terrorism Act 2000); making funding arrangements for terrorism (contrary to section 17 of the Terrorism Act 2000); and possession of an article for terrorism purposes (contrary to section 57 of the Terrorism Act 2000) at the Old Bailey on Monday, 16 October.
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