A Leicestershire man has called the terrorist a “hero” and revealed his desire to kill others

This is the face of a Leicestershire man who called a mass killer a ‘hero’. Edward Griffiths also spoke of wanting to kill himself before he was caught.

Griffiths, of Whitwick’s Hermitage Road, near Coalville, committed a series of offenses between November 2021 and June 2022 in which he encouraged acts of terrorism. One saw him praising the perpetrator of the 2019 terrorist attack in Christchurch, New Zealand.

The atrocity, which was committed at two mosques, left 51 people dead. Griffiths shared footage of the terror attack with the two people and told them he would “love” to recreate the terrorists’ actions. Social media posts have also seen him label the Christchurch killer a “hero”.

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Griffiths also revealed to others about his desire to kill others, while talking about the use of various weapons. The 44-year-old’s posts soon came to the attention of police, with counter-terrorism officers executing a warrant at his home in June 2022.

During interviews with police, Griffiths did not answer questions about his posts, but later admitted they were made due to personal issues following Covid-19. He was later charged with encouraging terrorism in May last year.

At his trial at Birmingham Crown Court, both the police and the prosecution made it clear that Griffiths was not planning any particular attack but that he had an extreme mindset. They said he was reckless if his actions would encourage others to commit terrorist acts.

Griffiths was found guilty last month of one count of encouraging terrorism and two counts of distributing a terrorist publication. He returned to court on Friday (7 June) where he received a four-and-a-half-year prison sentence.

Speaking after the sentencing, Detective Inspector Glynn Jehu, of Counter Terrorism Police – East Midlands, said: “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. It was therefore important that we stopped this by acting on the information we received, fully investigating the communications and bringing Griffiths before the courts.”

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