A 19-year-old man from Swanley, Kent has pleaded guilty to multiple terrorism offences following an investigation led by the Met’s Counter Terrorism Command.
Details of the Offences
Leo Walby (born 08.08.2005) pleaded guilty at the Old Bailey on 2 April to:
- Six counts of dissemination of terrorist material, contrary to Section 2 of the Terrorism Act (TACT), 2006.
- One count of failing to disclose a password, after being served notice, contrary to Section 53 of the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act (RIPA), 2000.
Arrest and Investigation
Walby was arrested on 4 October 2024 as part of a proactive investigation by officers from the Counter Terrorism Command. The arrest took place at an address in Swanley, where officers conducted a search and seized several digital devices.
During the investigation, police found that Walby had been disseminating terrorist material online, including extremist Islamist-related content and Daesh propaganda. These materials were shared through multiple social media accounts that he controlled.
Walby was initially charged on 5 October 2024 with the six counts of disseminating terrorist material. Subsequently, officers sought a section 49 notice to compel him to provide the password to a cloud-based storage account. Despite being legally required, Walby refused to disclose the password, leading to an additional charge of failing to provide the password, in violation of RIPA, 2000.
Police Statement
Commander Dominic Murphy, head of the Met’s Counter Terrorism Command, commented on the case:
“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.”
The Met Police urged the public to report any extremist or terrorist-related material they encounter online to www.gov.uk/ACT.
Court Proceedings
Following his guilty plea, Leo Walby has been remanded in custody and is scheduled to appear for sentencing at the Old Bailey on 9 May.
