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Extremist dragged from court after being jailed

Author
Newstalk ZB Staff ,
Publish Date
Thu, 23 Jun 2016, 3:56PM
File photo of Imran Patel in 2014 (Supplied)

Extremist dragged from court after being jailed

Author
Newstalk ZB Staff ,
Publish Date
Thu, 23 Jun 2016, 3:56PM

LISTEN ABOVE: Court reporter Robb Kidd describes the moment the sentence was delivered.

An Auckland man who distributed extremist videos, featuring footage of people being shot, beheaded and burned alive has been dragged from the Auckland District court screaming “Allahu Akbar”.

Imran Patel launched into the rant as he was jailed for three years nine months.

“Tell John Key to stop being a slave to America and get out of Iraq. Allahu Akbar,” he shouted, while being restrained by court security.

The 26 year old is thought to be the first person in the country to be sentenced over so-called terrorist material.

Defence counsel Adam Holland described his client as “naive and misguided”.

Mr Holland said his client suspected he was being monitored by the police and was in regular contact with officers; but made the foolish assumption he was doing nothing wrong.

“He now understands he made a very grave error.”

But the lawyer argued Patel’s offending was totally incomparable to the worst child-porn crimes, as the Crown had suggested.

Mr Holland said his client had strong support in the community and his parents had even organised meetings involving the police deputy commissioner before and after the offending.

Judge Russell Collins was quick to stress Patel was not being prosecuted over terrorist acts; only on the charges before the court: possessing, making and distributing objectionable material.

He says the violence depicted in the videos he shared was “grotesque”.

Patel sent text messages to 52 people with a link to an ISIS-made video, with accompanying words about revenge.

The judge disagreed that home detention was a viable option for Patel, in opting to jail him.

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