Man imprisoned for terrorist material loses appeal against sentence

Imran Patel has had his appeal to reduce the sentence imposed for distributing terrorism related material dismissed by the Court of Appeal. Photo / File

An Auckland man jailed for distributing terrorist material to 52 people has had his second appeal over the length of his sentence dismissed by the Court of Appeal.

Imran Patel was sentenced to three years and nine months in June 2016 for distributing extremist videos featuring footage of people being shot, beheaded and burned alive.

However, the Court of Appeal has also dismissed his appeal of the sentence and said his criminal record "reinforced the need for the sentence imposed to serve the purposes of deterrence and therefore personal accountability".

Justice Helen Winkelmann, in her judgment, said Patel "posed a threat to the community" and that a starting point of five years imprisonment was available for this type of serious offending.

Patel applied to the Court of Appeal to have the length of his sentence reduced because an uplift of previous convictions was too great and his end sentence was "manifestly excessive".

He had already had his appeal over his sentence to the High Court dismissed.

Patel pleaded guilty to four charges under the Films, Videos, and Publications Classification Act 1993 of making, possessing and distributing objectionable material

These charges usually relate to child pornography and Patel was understood to be the first person in the country to be sentenced over distributing so-called terrorist material.

The Mt Roskill man was charged for activity which involved sending text messages to 52 people with a link to an Isis-made video in 2015.

The montage showed 14 prisoners lined up before two men shot them in the head one by one.

Despite being warned by his mobile phone network about the content he was sending, he sent a similar video the next day showing people being beheaded by masked men.

He was warned again by his network provider and later barred from sending messages.

Patel acquired a new number from a different provider and sent texts to the same people again telling the non-believers to "behave like muslims".

A police search in December 2015, uncovered 62 objectionable files on Patel's laptop.

Patel had earlier been jailed for 10 months for intimidating behaviour, threatening to kill and assault with a weapon.