Britain’s most prominent Muslim hate preacher Anjem Choudary has been jailed for life for directing a terrorist organisation over the course of a decade.
The 57-year-old radical Islamic preacher took on a “caretaker role” in charge of the banned Al-Muhajiroun (ALM) group when leader Omar Bakri Muhammad was sent to prison in 2014.
He was linked for years to terror attacks happening on British soil and Choudary was locked up in 2016 for supporting Islamic State. But his role at the head of ALM was kept a secret.
However his convert activities encouraging extremism and inspiring terror attacks were exposed thanks to an undercover operation linking up law enforcement in Britain, the US, and Canada.
A judge has now found that Choudary and his organisation was responsible for inspiring multiple acts of terrorism, as well as grooming young people into radicalisation.
Jailing the hate preacher, Mr Justice Wall said Choudary will be locked up until he is in his 80s, and may never be free again.
Choudary was caught out encouraging support for ALM while addressing online meetings of the Islamic Thinkers Society (ITS), which prosecutors said was merely ALM in disguise.
The preacher, from Ilford in east London, was arrested in a dawn raid in 2023 and convicted after a trial at Woolwich crown court of terror charges.
At court on Tuesday, Choudary was jailed for life with a minimum term of 28 years. One of his devoted followers, Khaled Hussein, 29, was jailed for five years with an extra year on licence for membership of ALM.
“These are offences which cause the risk of significant loss of life”, said the judge, who said Choudary was “front and centre” in the leadership of ALM and had “groomed” young people into radical Islam.
“Organisations such as yours normalise violence in the pursuit of an ideological cause. Their existence give individuals who are members of them the courage to commit acts that otherwise they might not do.
“They drive a wedge between people who would and could live together in peaceful co-existence.”
The judge said Choudary and ALM leaders publicly pretended the organisation had been disbanded in 2004, but this was “at odds with things being said by you in private”.
ALM operated under various names, the judge found, while Choudary encouraged violent acts to his followers which were “thinly disguised” as philosophical thinking.
The judge described ALM as a “radical organisation intent on spreading Sharia Law to as much of the world as possible, using violent means where necessary”.
And he concluded that several terrorist offences had been carried out because of the support and membership of ALM.
“It is impossible to say which particular terrorist acts you knew of or offered specific encouragement to before they were committed”, said the judge, before adding: “You ran an organisation which was determined to support and encourage those who carried out such activities.”
The judge said Choudary had offered a “chilling” denial of the Holocaust during the trial, and he is sure the preacher will continue to pursue his radical aims in the future.
“You are an intelligent man and a persuasive speaker to those who are open to the messages of hate which you spread”, he said.
“You are a man of great determination who has continued to pursue your aims despite your previous conviction for a terrorist offence and subsequent imprisonment.
“You have no doubt as to the rectitude of your views. Your views are entrenched and abhorrent to most right-thinking people.”
Choudary, wearing a white t-shirt in the dock and flanked by foursecurity guards, stood with his hands in his pockets as he was jailed.
He appeared taken aback as the judge said Choudary said he will be 85 before he gets a chance to be released and must present the parole board with the “most cogent evidence of a change of mindset by you”.
“If they never form the view that you can safely be released, you will remain in prison for the rest of your life”, he added.
Choudary was jailed for five-and-a-half years in 2016 when he was caught encouraging support for Islamic State.
He had evaded law enforcement for years while being the most prominent exponent of radical Islam in the UK. But a pledge of allegiance to Islamic State in 2014 was pivotal in Choudary being convicted and ultimately jailed.
Choudary has previously praised those responsible for the terror attacks on 9/11 and in London on July 7, 2005, while his past followers have included the two men who murdered Lee Rigby in 2013 and those responsible for attacks on London Bridge in 2017 and 2019.
He also once expressed a desire to convert Buckingham Palace into a mosque.
Choudary was released from prison in 2018 and his licence conditions expired in 2021. But prosecutors insisted the preacher had secretly maintained his position at the head of the banned group from 2014 onwards.
He was snared after undercover US law enforcement officers infiltrated ITS and observed online lectures in 2022 and 2023.
Commander Dominic Murphy, head of the Metropolitan Police’s counter-terrorism command, said: “There are individuals that have conducted terrorist attacks or travelled for terrorist purposes as a result of Anjem Choudary’s radicalising impact upon them.
“ALM’s tentacles have spread across the world and have had a massive impact on public safety and security.”
Choudary was arrested in a 5.30am raid on his home on July 17, 2023, and was caught on camera looking visibly stunned as officers came into his house.
“Oh my god… what are you doing?”, he was heard saying, before being told he was being arrested on suspicion of terrorist offences.
Tom Little KC, who led the prosecution of Choudary and Hussein at trial, said Choudary has a “warped and twisted mindset”.
He said Choudary was under “onerous” licence conditions following his 2016 conviction, but he took advantage of those conditions being lifting in 2021 by increase his activities.
Hussein, from Edmonton in Canada, essentially acted as Choudary’s personal assistant, helping to host online lectures and editing extremist online blogs and publications.
Paul Hynes KC, mitigating for Choudary, called ALM “little more than a husk of an organisation” when the preacher took caretaker charge, with terror attacks linked to the group having already happened.
He argued ALM is “a world apart” from terror groups like Islamic State and Al Qaeda, which were responsible for “murder and mayhem”, and should not be considered on the same level.
And he argued Choudary should not be adjudged to be “culpable for the acts of others”.
Choudary denied the continuing existence of ALM, and was found guilty by a jury of directing a terrorist organisation and encourage support for a proscribed organisation.
Hussein also pleaded not guilty but was convicted of membership of a proscribed organisation.
The judge said Hussein had been “in awe” of Choudary, but he had been an active and willing participant.
