Chiswick Business Park terror scout sentenced to three and a half years in prison

Image above: Magomed-Husejn Dovtaev

Dovtaev attempted to carry out hostile reconnaissance at Chiswick Business Park

A man who attempted to carry out ‘hostile reconnaissance’ at the site of Iran International, the TV company formerly based in Chiswick, has been jailed for three-and-a-half years.

Magomed-Husejn Dovtaev, 31, an Austrian national, visited Chiswick Business Park in February 2023. He was spotted by security guards as he was taking a close interest in a building where media company Iran International was based at that time.

After speaking to Dovtaev a number of times, the guards grew concerned and called police. Officers attended soon after and Dovtaev was quickly arrested.

In the months before, the company had been subjected to serious threats projected from Iran against its staff, in reaction to its reporting of political and social issues in the country.

In response to the growing concerns about these threats, specialist officers from the Metropolitan Police worked closely with Iran International and Chiswick Business Park to strengthen the security at their now-former site.

Following his arrest, Dovtaev’s phone was recovered and analysed by detectives, revealing that he researched the building prior to his arrival in the UK.

Following a trial at the Old Bailey which concluded on Wednesday, 20 December, he was convicted of attempting to collect information likely to be useful for terrorism (contrary to Section 58 of the Terrorism Act).

On Friday, 22 December, Dovtaev was sentenced to three-and-a-half years’ imprisonment.

Image above: Armed police vehicles at Chiswick Business Park in 2022

Dovtaev’s actions were “chilling” says Met police boss

Commander Dominic Murphy, head of the Met’s Counter Terrorism Command, said: 

“Dovtaev travelled hundreds of miles with the intention of gathering hostile reconnaissance. It was due to the heightened security, vigilance and decisive actions of security guards that Dovtaev’s activities were quickly spotted, and that led to his arrest.

“Dovtaev never said who he was working for or with and we could find no further evidence of this, but we did find enough evidence to show the jury that he was there to carry out terrorist-related activity.

“His actions were chilling and put into sharp focus our wider concerns about threats emanating from Iran that continue to be directed towards certain individuals and media organisations here in the UK.

“However, the protective security measures we helped to introduce meant his activity was thwarted. We will continue work extremely closely with our intelligence and security partners in the UK and abroad to combat any state threats.”

Iran International are no longer based at the site in Chiswick Business Park and officers continue to provide security advice and support to Iran International as well as other UK-based Persian-language media companies.

The Met continue to ask the public to remain vigilant and report anything that doesn’t look or feel right to police by calling 0800 789 321 or call 999 if it is an emergency.