A former Army cadet who terrorised two girls and a teacher while holding bomb-making material and extremist content has been jailed for four years and six months.
Dihan Rahman, 19, from Southall in west London, was sentenced at the Old Bailey after pleading guilty to three counts of stalking, three counts of making indecent images of children and three counts of possessing documents useful for terrorism.
The terrorist material included a pipe bomb tutorial and a video on how to make TATP explosives.
The court heard Rahman’s electronic devices and written notes revealed what prosecutor Serena Gates KC described as a “mixed” ideology, including extreme right-wing, Islamic State, incel and misogynistic material.
She said the common themes included hatred of Jews and hostility towards women.
Rahman had also been a trusted administrator of an extreme right-wing group on Telegram after pretending to be a white youth, the court heard.
Judge Simon Mayo KC said Rahman’s behaviour was planned, concealed and persistent, and had continued even after police became involved and he had been placed on bail conditions.
He said Rahman’s stalking was “persistent, calculated and highly intrusive” and left the two young women living in constant fear, changing their daily routines, withdrawing socially and restricting their online activity.
The court heard Rahman’s offending began in 2023 after he moved to a new school and joined an Army cadet programme.
After one of the girls rejected his advances, he began sending abusive messages, taking photographs of her and her female friends and repeatedly targeting her social media accounts.
He later posted the personal details of the two girls and a teacher online during the stalking campaign.
The court also heard he posted images on social media tagged to the location of the school prom, including a picture of a Second World War German soldier holding a gun and a message saying he was “going to ruin prom”. The event had to be moved for security reasons, and extra security was put in place.
When the girls reported his behaviour, a teacher confiscated Rahman’s phone and found disturbing material, including an image of him in army uniform with the words “kill yourself”, another of him in a headscarf with the caption “who’s in for a Valentines school shooting”, images of Adolf Hitler, Saddam Hussein, beheadings, dead bodies and violent pictures of women being hurt and strangled.
A manifesto written by Rahman was also found in his school bag.
The teacher was later targeted by Rahman, who made malicious professional complaints against her as part of his stalking campaign.
The court heard there was no evidence that Rahman planned or considered carrying out an attack on the prom, but the threat forced organisers to relocate the event.
Rahman originally admitted possessing the documents but claimed he did not know they contained information useful for terrorism. He later pleaded guilty to those offences after his trial began.
Judge Mayo said his autism spectrum disorder, emotional immaturity and social isolation did not excuse his conduct.
As well as the prison sentence, Rahman was given an extended licence period of three years.
Bethan David, Head of Counter Terrorism for the Crown Prosecution Service, said Rahman’s extreme ideologies and misogynistic views had driven both the terrorism and stalking offences.
Commander Helen Flanagan, head of Counter Terrorism Policing London, said the case reflected a growing trend of young people being drawn into extremist, violent and terrorist ideologies through online material.