NAILED AT LAST!
For 20 years, hate preacher on benefits laughed at Britain as he spawned terror worldwide. Now, after vowing allegiance to IS, he faces 10 years behind bars
Britain’s most notorious hate preacher was in jail last night after two decades of laughing at the law.
Anjem Choudary’s extremist sermons spawned atrocities, beheadings and bomb plots.
He is believed to have inspired at least 110 Britons into committing terrorist acts. Police also think he helped encourage up to 850 fanatics to travel to Syria to fight for Islamic State.
His now-banned radical group has links to 15 terror plots, including the murder of Lee Rigby and the 7/7 attacks. Yet for 20 years he defied all attempts to prosecute him, while touring television studios – including those of the BBC – espousing his poisonous views with impunity.
The father of five and his family also milked hundreds of thousands of pounds from the benefits system.
The 49-year-old now faces up to ten years in jail after being convicted in a secret trial of inciting support for IS.
But questions were raised over why it took so long to bring him to justice. After a judge lifted the draconian reporting restrictions around the case it can be revealed that:
Choudary was convicted last month under an obscure provision of the Terrorism Act used to target Irish republican dissidents;
Police trawled through a billion files in the multi-million pound probe into
his activities, expending tens of thousands of hours;
When Choudary was convicted he appeared stunned, standing with his arms folded in silent fury;
his fanatic wife rubana Akhtar, 42, is also being investigated by police after being caught on camera leading a secretive group of women supporting is;
Choudary used taxpayers’ cash to fund his defence, racking up a six-figure legal aid bill as he desperately tried to justify his preaching under human rights laws.
Choudary has been the mouthpiece of the banned Al-Muhajiroun islamist group, goading the authorities with his inflammatory comments and statements.
Born in south-east London to a market stall-holder, he used to be a hard drinking student at southampton University who indulged in casual sex, porn and experimented with LsD and cannabis.
But he joined Al-Muhajiroun after falling under the spell of founder Omar Bakri Mohammed, the notorious preacher who praised the 9/11 attack and hailed the London 7 July bombers the ‘Fantastic Four’.
his band of rabble-rousers rose to prominence in 2006 protesting against Danish cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed.
this was followed by protests at parades for soldiers returning from Afghanistan, burning poppies and screaming insults during a two-minute silence on Armistice Day in November 2010. From Choudary’s secret headquarters hidden in the cellar of a sweet shop run by his family in London’s East End, he spread his vile ideology to his tens of thousands of followers on Facebook, Youtube, What’s App and twitter.
research by the henry Jackson society thinktank shows that almost one quarter of offenders convicted of islamist-inspired terrorism-related offences in the UK since 1999 had direct links to Al-Muhajiroun or its many aliases. One in ten had a personal relationship with Choudary.
his supporters include Michael Adebolajo and Michael Adebowale, who slaughtered Fusilier rigby outside Woolwich Barracks in May 2013.
But, using his legal training as a solicitor and forensic understanding of terrorism legislation, Choudary always managed to dodge prosecution, playing cat and mouse with police and Mi5. tens of millions of pounds was spent investigating him.
Choudary’s seemingly untouchable status sparked rumours that he was deliberately being allowed to go free, so that counter-terrorism investigators could use him as a honeypot to catch supporters.
however, it was shortly after is was made illegal in June 2014 that Choudary made his crucial mistake.
On July 7 of that year, the preacher and his disciple Mohammed Mizanur rahman, 33, signed an oath of allegiance to is which was posted on the internet.
Choudary was arrested two months later but his month-long trial at the Old Bailey has been shrouded in secrecy due to a linked case being held in the same building involving Choudary’s associates,
that came to an end yesterday when Mohammed Alamgir, Yousaf Bashir and rajib Khan were convicted of encouraging support for is. Choudary and rahman will be sentenced on september 6. the authorities fear he will radicalise a new following behind bars.
irfan Chishti, imam of Manchester Central Mosque, said: ‘British Muslims across the UK welcome this verdict. the community has been unanimous in its rejection of these individuals and everything they stand for.’
Nick Lowles, of hope not hate, a left-wing group which estimates Choudary has inspired 110 British terrorists, said: ‘Justice has been a long time coming. For far too long, Anjem Choudary has played a key role as a cheerleader for is.’