Afghan migrant who threatened to kill Nigel Farage on TikTok jailed
An Afghan immigrant who came to the UK on a small boat has been jailed for threatening to kill Nigel Farage in a TikTok video.
Fayaz Khan, 26, was filmed threatening himself between October 12 and 15 last year by imitating the “pop, pop, pop” sound of a gunshot, in a post the Reform England leader described as “pretty chilling”.
He was convicted after a trial by a 10-2 jury majority at Southwark Crown Court and sentenced to five years behind bars.
The court heard Khan was believed to have given a false name to British authorities after entering the UK illegally and had a criminal record in Sweden.
Swedish authorities believe he is Fayaz Husseini, 31, who has 17 previous convictions for 12 separate incidents, including carrying a knife and threatening behaviour.
He claimed to have used a different name as he has “enemies”, and went by the username “madapasa” on the social media platform, where he had amassed hundreds of thousands of views.
Many of his videos focused on his attempts to cross the Channel to the UK after living in Stockholm since 2019.
On October 12 last year, Mr Farage uploaded a video to YouTube titled “An illegal immigrant’s journey”, which highlighted Khan and referred to “young men of fighting age coming into our country, about whom we know very little”.
Khan responded with a video shown to the jury on October 14; In this video, Khan said: “British Nigel, don’t talk bad about me.
“You don’t know me. I came to England because I wanted to marry your sister. You don’t know me.”
“Don’t talk about me no more [sic]. Delete the video. I’m coming to England. I’m going to explode, I’m going to explode, I’m going to explode.
Khan was said to be making “gun gestures” with his hand as he said “pop, pop, pop”, as well as head-butting the camera during the video and pointing to the AK-47 tattoo on his face “to emphasize that he wasn’t joking”, according to jurors.
Khan “livestreamed” his journey across the Channel from France and was arrested after arriving in the UK on a small boat on October 31 last year.
Addressing the video, sentencing judge Mrs Justice Steyn said: “You viewed the widespread dissemination of Mr Farage’s video as an obstacle to your attempts to come to the UK.”
Giving evidence, Mr Farage said: “Given his affinity for guns and his love of guns, I was really worried. He says he’s going to come to England and shoot me.”
Jurors were shown a screenshot of Khan’s subsequent TikTok post, titled “I say what I say”, over an image of a GB News report about the alleged threat to Mr Farage.
In his statement to police, Khan denied wanting to kill Mr Farage and said he had smoked cannabis and was drunk at the time the video was shot.
His lawyer Charles Royle said: “I have been instructed to apologize to Mr Khan, Mr Farage and his sister for any hurt or upset I have caused.”
The prosecution said Khan committed numerous low-level crimes, including some involving drugs.
Peter Ratliff said Khan was found guilty of threatening behavior towards a public official in June 2019 and was imprisoned for that. He was also found guilty of carrying a knife in a public place in April 2020 and was sentenced to three months in prison for threatening behavior in October of the same year. Khan was also found guilty of vandalism and was subsequently sentenced to two months in prison in March 2023.
Mrs Justice Steyn said: “Your video was not more abuse; it was a threat to kill with a firearm and was, in Mr Farage’s words, ‘pretty chilling’.”
After being jailed, Mr Khan shouted from the podium that Mr Farage “wanted to use me because he wants to be prime minister”.
Following Khan’s conviction, Mr Farage told reporters: “I think we call that a victory,” adding: “But the reality is that this violent criminal with 17 convictions in Sweden will be in this country in 18 months, living in a multi-occupancy house or a hotel, free to walk the streets while his asylum claim is assessed.”
Asked if Khan was “shaken” by his outburst at Mr Farage after he was convicted, he said: “Well, in 18 months’ time, when he’s free and there’s no restraining order against him, I’ll be very thoughtful again.”
Downing Street welcomed the outcome of the case; The prime minister’s official spokesman stated that “threatening violence against anyone, especially MPs, is completely unacceptable”.
The spokesman added: “We thank the police and everyone involved in the case for delivering justice.”
