Individual Jailed After Social Media Video Featuring Decommissioned Rifle and Threats

An individual has received a prison sentence exceeding two years after featuring in a social media video where he was seen holding a decommissioned rifle and uttering threats to “blow away” the English Defence League. Habeeb Khan, aged 49, stated that an unnamed friend uploaded the video, which had been recorded in his Birmingham living room. The court was informed that the video circulated extensively across far-right social media platforms, accumulating 1.4 million views on a single extreme right-wing X account. Mr. Khan, a married father residing on Hickman Road in Sparkbrook, admitted guilt to charges of making threats of death or serious harm, in violation of the Online Safety Act, and was sentenced to 27 months in prison. Furthermore, he confessed to threatening behavior stemming from homophobic and abusive remarks uttered after law enforcement transported him to a hospital on the day of his apprehension. The crown court in the city learned that a T-shirt worn by Khan in an 11-second segment of the video was discovered on a washing line at his residence when he was arrested on 7 August. This arrest occurred two days following significant unrest in the Bordesley Green area. Judge Melbourne Inman KC informed Khan that his case represented “one of a number of cases that this court has had to deal with which arise out of civil unrest which itself followed from the very tragic events in Southport” on 29 July. The judge explained that this context underpinned Khan’s actions on 6 August, when he arranged for a message to be disseminated on X, adding: “This was, as you know, a time of extremely heightened social tension. On any view you were very reckless.” Prosecutor Laurie Scott indicated that the video circulated across multiple X accounts, and confirmed that the decommissioned rifle retrieved by police was unable to discharge live ammunition. The court was informed that during his arrest, Khan remarked, “all I have done is make a little video” before proceeding to “play up” for onlookers. Sunit Sandhu, representing the defense, stated that the Sparkbrook resident suffered from health conditions, including bipolar disorder and cellulitis, and expressed that he was “genuinely remorseful.” Khan received instructions that he must complete 40% of his prison sentence prior to becoming eligible for release on licence. The court was apprised that Khan possesses a record of 11 prior convictions for 15 offenses, which encompass racially aggravated public order offenses in both 2009 and 2013. Additionally, he was incarcerated for 12 months in 2019 following a conviction for possessing an imitation handgun with the intention of instilling fear of violence in a delivery driver.