A 21-year-old man from west London, Harry Blake, has been sentenced to three years and two months in prison after breaching conditions imposed on him following his conviction for terrorism offences. Met Counter Terrorism Command officers discovered that Blake owned a mobile phone and memory card that he had not notified the police of, as required by law.

On August 7, 2022, counter-terrorism officers based at Gatwick Airport stopped Blake under Schedule 7 of the Terrorism Act 2000. The officers seized the mobile phone and memory card, which were later examined by specialist digital forensic officers. Shockingly, the devices were found to contain extreme pornography and indecent images of children.

Following the discovery, detectives arrested Blake on September 15, 2022, and charged him with breaching the conditions and possessing criminal images. He pleaded guilty to three counts of a notification offence under section 54 of the Counter Terrorism Act 2008, three counts of failing to comply with an order under section 25 of the Serious Crime Act 2007, three counts of possession of extreme pornography, and one count of possession of indecent images of children.

The sentencing, which took place at the Old Bailey on August 3, 2023, was led by Detective Chief Superintendent Gareth Rees of the Met Police Counter Terrorism Command. He emphasised the seriousness of Blake’s breach of the conditions imposed on him, considering his prior conviction for sharing extremist content online. The breach was made even more grave by the discovery of child abuse images stored on his devices.

In September 2020, Blake had already pleaded guilty to 14 terrorism offences related to extreme right-wing terrorism and two child abuse image offences. He was handed a suspended jail sentence, a ten-year terrorist offender notification order, and was required to attend deradicalization programs. Additionally, he was subjected to a Serious Crime Prevention Order (SCPO) that imposed restrictions on his computer use, including notifying the Met Police before accessing the internet.

Despite his previous conviction, Blake breached the imposed conditions, leading to his recent sentence of three years and two months in prison. He will continue to be subject to the ten-year notification order and will face another SCPO upon his release from prison.