Man sentenced after spying on a London-based Iranian television channel
Magomed-Husejn Dovtaev has been sentenced to three years and six months in prison
Last updated 22nd Dec 2023
A 31 year old man found guilty of spying on a London based Iranian television channel in the UK - has been sentenced to three years and six months in prison.
Magomed-Husejn Dovtaev - flew from Austria in February to check security at Iran International, a station critical of the country's regime.
During his Old Bailey trial, the Chechnya-born national claimed he'd been set up, but police argued he was there for "hostile reconnaissance".
On February 11, IT worker and married father-of-three Dovtaev boarded a plane from Vienna to Gatwick.
From the airport, he took a taxi directly to the headquarters of Iran International and carried out "hostile reconnaissance" for an unidentified individual or group, the court was told.
He sought to "identify and exploit" vulnerabilities in the security of the company's premises in the Chiswick Business Park, west London, jurors heard.
When initially questioned, he told security guards he was meeting a friend.
He was arrested by police at a nearby Starbucks after being seen filming the Iran International building on his phone.
In a prepared statement to police, he denied being involved with any terrorist organisation and claimed he shot a video "to show to my three children as there was a lake there".
In his sentencing remarks, Judge Richard Marks KC said those behind the defendant's actions planned an attack on Iran International.
Judge Richard Marks KC continued:
"There is of course no direct evidence in this case as to the precise use to which the video footage, if obtained, would have been put by others, but I am satisfied to the criminal standard of proof that an attack of some sort on Iran International was the plan of those who were behind this.
"It is significant, in my judgment, that following your arrest still and video images were recovered from your phone, taken at the park by another or others, featuring the security arrangements at the entrance gate and outside the building where Iran International were based.
"The unchallenged evidence was that that imagery had been captured on at least two previous occasions and went back in time to the summer of 2022.
"I conclude from that that there was an element of both planning and persistence on the part of those who were behind this, consistent with a planned attack and, moreover, they clearly trusted you to carry out this further reconnaissance."
Commenting on the case, Met Commander Dominic Murphy said counter-terrorism police were "very alive" to the threat posed by Iran to potential targets on British soil.
The head of the Met's SO15 Counter-terrorism Command said:
"For a considerable amount of time, we've been worried about threats projected into the UK from Iran.
"At this time, we don't know why Dovtaev was conducting this activity except to say that we believe very strongly that it was for terrorism.
"We don't know who did it but we have always been concerned about threats projected into the UK, and in this case particularly against Persian language media.
"I'm pleased to say the company are still broadcasting from London but just in a different location now."