Coalville man sentenced after sharing footage of deadly terror attacks and said he would like to do the same

A Leicestershire man who shared images of a terror attack that killed 51 people and said he would love to do the same has been found guilty of encouraging terrorism. Edward Griffiths, from Whitwick, near Coalville, shared videos of the March 2019 attack on a mosque in Christchurch, New Zealand.

The 44-year-old man said he would “like” to go on a killing spree and talked about different people he wanted to kill, Leicestershire Police said. He also called the attacker a “hero” in a social media post, he added.

The offenses are said to have been committed by Griffiths, of Hermitage Road, between November 2021 and June 2022. Following an investigation, officers from East Midlands Counter Terrorism Police executed a warrant in June 2022 which led to Griffiths’ arrest at his home or.

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Griffiths admitted to being the user of various social media profiles but mostly gave “no comment” in interviews, the force said. In a later interview, Griffiths said sending the video was a mistake, that he shared it with a few close friends and that he was going through a bad time in his life during the Covid pandemic, police said.

Griffiths was charged in May last year and, following a trial at Birmingham Crown Court, was yesterday (Wednesday, May 15) found guilty of one count of encouraging terrorism and two counts of distributing a terrorist publication. Detective Inspector Glynn Jehu, of East Midlands Counter-Terrorism Police, said after the verdicts: “Fifty-one people lost their lives in the Christchurch attacks. Spreading messages of hate and extreme violence in the way Griffiths did is dangerous, reckless and could easily have encouraged others to commit an act of terrorism.

“That’s why it was important to stop this by acting on the information we received, fully investigating the communications and bringing Griffiths before the courts.” Griffiths was remanded in custody and is due to be sentenced on Friday, June 7.