WIREDGOV

An Army Cadet who threatened to ‘ruin prom’ and had bomb-making videos and a terrorist manual has been sentenced to four years and six months for terrorism, stalking offences and making indecent images of children.  

Dihan Rahman, 19, was driven by extremist ideologies and had incel, misogynistic, pro-ISIS and extreme right-wing material.  

He was the administrator of the far-right wing Strumjäger Group on encrypted messaging app Telegram and had frequently expressed antisemitic views, including to one of his victims who had Jewish ancestry.  

Bethan David, Head of Counter Terrorism for the Crown Prosecution Service, said:  

“Dihan Rahman was driven by his extreme ideologies and misogynistic views.  

“He was an administrator of an extreme far-right group that is known for its encouragement of violence, he had material containing pro-ISIS, far-right views and depicting violence against women.  

“His derogatory views about women and his interest in mixed extreme ideologies drove him to commit the stalking offences causing considerable fear and distress to his victims, who have described the effect his actions have had on them.

“Yesterday’s sentencing reflects the seriousness of his crimes, and I hope can bring some closure to his victims, my thoughts remain with them.”

Building the case

Rahman’s actions began after he moved school, was romantically rejected by a girl, and began his misogynistic campaign against women.  

He would go on to stalk the girl who rejected him and her friend, doxxing their details to encourage harassment online, he would visit locations he knew they would be and tried to discover their locations from others.  

After he posted pictures on social media, tagged to the location of the prom, of a WW2 German Soldier holding a gun and saying he was ‘going to ruin prom’ the event was forced into moving for security reasons.  

There is no evidence to suggest he planned or considered an attack; however extra security was added to the prom once the venue had changed.  

When the girls reported his behaviour to the school, Rahman’s phone was confiscated by a teacher, who saw images of him dressed in army uniform with the words ‘kill yourself’ and another of Dihan in a headscarf with the caption ‘who’s in for a Valentines school shooting’.  

Alongside these there were images of Hitler, Sadam Hussein, beheadings, dead bodies and violent images of women being hurt and strangled. A manifesto written by Rahman was also found in his school bag.  

The school contacted the police, Rahman would go on to stalk the teacher who had found images and manifesto.  

Rahman originally admitted to owning the documents but claimed he didn’t know that they contained information that would help a terrorist.  

The prosecution case was that not only did Rahman have the documents, but his wider online activity, beliefs and mindset meant that he was fascinated with violence within the documents.  

He pleaded guilty to the stalking and making indecent images of a child before trial, and possession of terrorist material after his trial began. 

Notes to editors