A migrant who crossed the English Channel on a small boat and later threatened to kill Nigel Farage, leader of Reform UK, has been found guilty after it emerged he gave British police a false name to hide his criminal record in Sweden.
According to the PA News Agency, the man — identified as Fayaz Khan — made the threat between October 12 and 15 last year in a TikTok video that Mr. Farage described as “pretty chilling.” However, Swedish authorities believe his real name is Fayaz Husseini, and that he is 31 years old, not 26 as he initially claimed.
Prosecutor Peter Ratliff told Southwark Crown Court that Khan likely used a false identity because of his criminal record in Sweden, where he had been convicted several times. The court heard that he was one of 65 migrants who arrived in the UK on a small black inflatable boat from France and that he livestreamed his crossing on TikTok, gathering thousands of online viewers.
Khan, who used the TikTok username “madapasa,” had built a large online presence, sharing videos about his journey from Sweden to the UK. Prosecutors said he claimed he only wanted to show the challenges of the trip and that he would have applied for asylum had he not been intercepted by police.
During questioning, Khan told officers he did not know crossing the Channel by boat was illegal. However, prosecutors argued that his actions showed a pattern of deceit and disregard for the law. His criminal record in Sweden included multiple convictions for carrying a knife, drug offences, threatening behaviour, and vandalism.
Records show Khan had been convicted of 17 offences on 12 different occasions, including using threatening behaviour toward a public servant and carrying weapons in public.
What does this case mean for UK migration policy?
This case has reignited political debate over border control and the risks linked to illegal migration. Critics argue that stronger background checks and international cooperation are needed to prevent individuals with criminal records from entering the country.
Speaking after the verdict, Nigel Farage said he was “genuinely worried” by the threats. “Given his proximity to guns and love of guns, I was genuinely worried,” he said, adding that Khan had said in his videos that he was coming to England to shoot him.
In a post on X (formerly Twitter), Mr. Farage reacted to the conviction, saying: “The illegal migrant who threatened to kill me has just been found guilty. How many more of these people are we letting into our country every single day?”
Khan is expected to be sentenced on Tuesday for making threats to kill and for entering the UK illegally.