Small boat migrant jailed for five years for threatening to kill Nigel Farage

A small boat migrant who threatened to kill Reform UK leader Nigel Farage on TikTok has been jailed for five years.

Afghan national Fayaz Khan, whose real name is Fayaz Hosseini, made the threat last October – in a video that Mr Farage and a High Court judge described as “pretty chilling”.

Mr Farage said he was “happy with the win” following the sentencing hearing at Southwark Crown Court on Tuesday but said he was “deeply, deeply concerned” Khan would freed in 18 months.

The politician attended the sentencing hearing with security guards and sat in front of reporters.

Khan shouted at Mr Farage as he was taken down to the cells after the hearing – accusing him of wanting to “use me because you want to be prime minister”.

The migrant was found guilty of making threats to kill following a trial last week, after previously pleading guilty to attempting to enter the UK illegally.

Jurors were previously told that on October 12 last year, Mr Farage uploaded a video to YouTube titled “the journey of an illegal migrant” which highlighted Khan and referenced “young males of fighting age coming into our country about whom we know very little”.

Prosecutor Peter Ratliff said Khan responded with a video two days later which was played to the jury, in which he said: “Englishman Nigel, don’t talk shit about me.

“You not know me. I come to England because I want to marry with your sister. You not know me.

“Don’t talk about me more. Delete the video.

“I’m coming to England. I’m going to pop, pop, pop.”

Mr Ratliff previously told the court that while Khan said “pop, pop, pop” he made “gun gestures with his hand”, as well as headbutting the camera during the video, and was pointing to an AK-47 tattoo on his face to “emphasise he wasn’t joking”.

Jurors were told Khan had a “very large presence online” with his videos on TikTok, under the username “madapasa”, attracting hundreds of thousands of views.

The court heard the migrant gave British police the name Fayaz Khan and his age as 26 but Swedish authorities believe he is called Fayaz Hosseini and is 31.

He told British authorities he gave a different name because he has “enemies he did not want to find him”.

The judge ruled his reasons for giving a false name were because he has a “criminal record in Sweden” and an outstanding six-month prison sentence in the Scandinavian nation.

Mrs Justice Steyn told Khan she agreed with Mr Farage that his threats to kill the politician were “pretty chilling”.

Addressing a video from Mr Farage, that Khan responded to, she told the Afghan migrant: “You saw the widespread dissemination of Mr Farage’s video as a hindrance to your attempts to come to the UK.”

Speaking about Khan’s threats to kill, the judge added: “Your video was not more abuse, it was a threat to kill with a firearm and it was, as Mr Farage put it, ‘pretty chilling’.”

Defence barrister Charles Royle told the court Khan had asked him to apologise to Mr Farage on his behalf “for any offence and upset caused”.

The court was told the migrant claims his father was an associate of former Afghanistan president Hamid Karzai, and that Khan worked for his father – putting him at risk from the Taliban.

His criminal history in Sweden was read to the court, including convictions for carrying a knife in a public place and threatening behaviour.

Mr Ratliff said records suggest Khan had been convicted of 17 offences on 12 separate occasions.

The prosecution said his previous convictions included multiple low level drug and dishonesty offences.

He has also been convicted of using threatening behaviour towards a public servant, carrying a knife in a public place, vandalism, and a separate offence of using threatening behaviour.

Khan has an outstanding six-month sentence to serve in Sweden for possession of a knife in a public place but an extradition request from the Scandinavian nation has since been withdrawn, the court heard.

A Home Office spokesperson said: “We welcome this sentence. Threatening violence against anyone, particularly an elected member of Parliament, is never acceptable.

“We thank the police and all those involved in bringing justice in this case.

“When foreign nationals commit serious crimes in our country, we will always do everything in our power to deport them.”