Ex-boxer cleared of terror charge

A former boxing champion has been cleared of encouraging terrorism in a Youtube rant against Starbucks, Cocacola and Mcdonald’s.

Muslim convert Anthony Small, 36, had denied anyone would be moved to commit acts of terror by his “lighthearted poetry” published on 12 September 2016.

A jury at the Old Bailey deliberated over three days to find the former professional box- er not guilty of the terrorism charge. Jurors had viewed a seven-and-a-half-minute video in which Small talked about the influence of America and Israel in the world. In it, he said the choice was to “either accept the flame-grilled burger or we are going to flamegrill you from the sky”.

He concluded: “I am not calling for you to boycott Starbucks or Mcdonald’s; instead buy Israeli-made Desert Eagles (a type of gun), cock them back and let them go in the sons of monkeys’ peoples. In matter of fact, hijack an American-made Humvee and stick a black flag over the USA eagle.”

But at the end he said: “Disclaimer, in no way, shape or form am I calling for any violence, any terrorism, any killings or for anyone to buy any weapons of any sort to do any harm to anyone. This is a little light-hearted poetry.” Small, of south-east London, is a former British and Commonwealth champion, who also found fame in the 2016 BBC Two programme Muslims Like Us.