A West London barber has been jailed for funding terrorism in Syria following an investigation by the Met's Counter Terrorism Command. 

Tarek Namouz, 43, a barber from West London, was sentenced to ten years in prison and one year on licence at Kingston Crown Court on Thursday 5th January on ten terrorism offences. 

Namouz was found to have exchanged messages with a Daesh supporter in Syria in which they discussed purchasing weapons and explosives and sent more than £11,280 to his contact in Syria over several months before being arrested in May 2021. 

Commander Richard Smith, who leads the Met's Counter Terrorism Command, said: "Terrorist groups rely on funding to carry out their activities and to continue to operate. 

"People like Namouz who provide money to terrorist groups - both in the UK and overseas - are enabling others to go and commit serious and deadly attacks, and we will always pursue and investigate those people and seek to bring them to justice." 

When officers visited his flat on 25th May 2021 Namouz told them he did not have a phone, but following a search they found one hidden in a recess under a drawer. 

On this phone they found Daesh propaganda, consisting of thousands of messages and downloaded telegrams, additionally two videos, one of how to create an improvised explosive device and one of how to carry out a knife attack. 

In passing sentence, HHJ Lodder KC said: "In 2020 and 2021, you ran a barbers shop in Hammersmith. You were entitled to Covid bounce-back loans which were paid to you by the local council.  

"You sent that money, and other money, through a west London transfer and currency exchange, to terrorists in Syria." 

Namouz was convicted of eight counts of funding terrorism and two of possessing information likely to be useful to terrorism. 

+ Communities defeat terrorism, and information from the public is vital to counter terrorism investigations. If you see or hear something unusual or suspicious and think someone may be engaging in terrorist activity, trust your instincts and act by reporting it in confidence at gov.uk/ACT or the anti-terrorist hotline on 0800 789 321. In an emergency, dial 999.