An Afghan migrant 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, filmed himself making the threat, mimicking the âpop, pop, popâ noise of a gunshot, between 12 October and 15 last year in a post that the Reform UK leader described as âpretty chillingâ.
He was convicting following a trial at Southwark Crown Court by a majority of 10 jurors to two, and has now been sentenced to five years behind bars.
The court heard that Khan is believed to have given a false name to British authorities after entering the UK illegally, due to his criminal record in Sweden.
Swedish authorities believe he is called Fayaz Husseini and is 31 years old, and has 17 convictions for 12 separate incidents, which include carrying a knife and threatening behaviour.
He claimed to have used a different name as he has âenemiesâ, and used the username âmadapasaâ on the social media platform, where he had amassed hundreds of thousands of views.
Several of his videos had focused on his attempts to come to the UK via the Channel crossing, after previously living in Stockholm since 2019.
On 12 October last year, Mr Farage uploaded a video to YouTube titled âthe journey of an illegal migrantâ which highlighted Khan and referenced âyoung males of fighting age coming into our country about whom we know very littleâ.
Khan responded with a video on 14 October, which was played to the jury, in which Khan appears to say: âEnglishman Nigel, donât talk shit about me.
âYou not know me. I come to England because I want to marry with your sister. You not know me.
âDonât talk about me more. Delete the video. Iâm coming to England. Iâm going to pop, pop, pop.â
While Khan said âpop, pop, popâ he made âgun gestures with his handâ, as well as headbutting the camera during the video, and was pointing to an AK-47 tattoo on his face to âemphasise he wasnât jokingâ, jurors were told.
Khan had âlive-streamedâ his journey across the English Channel from France and was arrested on 31 October after arriving in the UK on a small boat.
Addressing the video, sentencing judge Mrs Justice Steyn said: âYou saw the widespread dissemination of Mr Farageâs video as a hindrance to your attempts to come to the UK.â
Giving evidence, Mr Farage said: âGiven his proximity to guns and love of guns, I was genuinely worried.â
He added: âHe says heâs coming to England and heâs going to shoot me.â
Jurors were shown a screenshot of a subsequent TikTok post by Khan with the caption âI mean what I sayâ written on an image of a GB News report about the alleged threat against Mr Farage.
In his police interview, Khan denied wanting to kill Mr Farage, and said that he had been smoking cannabis and was âhighâ at the time of filming the video.
His lawyer Charles Royle said: âI have instructions from Mr Khan to apologise to Mr Farage and to his sister for any offence and upset caused.â
The prosecution said that Khan had also committed multiple low level offences, including some involving drugs.
Peter Ratliff said in June 2019, Khan was convicted of using threatening behaviour towards a public servant, for which he was imprisoned.
He was also convicted of carrying a knife in a public place in April 2020 and was jailed for three months in October of the same year for using threatening behaviour.
Khan was also convicted of vandalism which resulted in a two-month prison sentence in March 2023.
Mrs Justice Steyn said: âYour video was not more abuse, it was a threat to kill with a firearm and it was, as Mr Farage put it, âpretty chillingâ.â
After he was jailed, the Afghan migrant shouted from the dock that Farage wanted to âuse me because you want to be prime ministerâ.
Following his conviction, Mr Farage has said he hopes Khan is deported to Sweden, where he is also reportedly facing child pornography charges.
Citing court documents, the Times reported that Khan will face a court hearing on 3 December in Varmland, southwest Sweden, for allegedly filming a naked girl under 18.
In a video posted on X, the politician added: âI just hope and pray that he is deported to Sweden to fight this case.
âMy big fear was heâd at some point, very soon, be out free on the streets.â
