Murderer from Luton jailed for four more years after smuggling phones in prison to spread ‘extreme terrorist’ material

A convicted murderer from Luton has had four years added to his life sentence after being caught smuggling a phone into prison in a bid to spread extreme terrorist material.

Muslim convert Denny De Silva, 31, was jailed for life in 2016 for a gangland shooting. He was sentenced to the additional time as a result of a Counter Terrorism Policing South East investigation into terrorism offences at Milton Keynes’ Woodhill Prison

Yesterday (September 27), he was given 45 months extra imprisonment and will be subject to one year on an extended licence.

At a July hearing, De Silva pleaded guilty to two counts of dissemination of a terrorist publication, contrary to Section 2 of the Terrorism Act 2006, and one count of conspiring to convey List B articles into prison.

Between August 2020 and January 2021, he was found to have been smuggling mobile phones into the prison. Messages recovered from his devices referred to a total of 24 mobile phones, 48 SIM cards and nine phone chargers.

De Silva was found to have used one of the smuggled phones to access and spread Islamist extremist material from within the prison. His sentence will be served consecutively to the one he is already serving.

Detective Chief Superintendent Olly Wright, head of Counter Terrorism Policing South East, said: “Denny De Silva was already serving a life sentence for murder when he used one of a large number of mobile phones smuggled into the prison to disseminate extreme Islamist terrorism-related material.

“Counter Terrorism Policing continues to work really closely with the prison service to prevent terrorists from spreading their radicalising influence behind bars. Key to this is the disruption of access to illicit items, such as mobile phones, from making their way into the prison system.

“Further, we continue to work tirelessly to keep our communities safe from terrorism, but we can’t do it without your help. If you see or hear something unusual or suspicious and think someone may be engaging in terrorist activity or beginning to follow the wrong path, please do trust your instincts and act by reporting it to us.”