Extremists with links to Anjem Choudary jailed after undercover operation

February 11, 2017

Five extremists with links to hate preacher Anjem Choudary have been jailed after being infiltrated by an undercover police officer. One of the men spoke of “40 trucks driving down Oxford Street full of explosives”, the Old Bailey was told.

Each was jailed for between two-and-a-half years and six years for drumming up support for the Islamic State.

They were arrested after an officer infiltrated the Luton chapter of the banned group Al-Muhajiroun (ALM). During the operation, the police officer recorded hate-filled speeches over 20 months, delivered to up to 80 people, including young children. They urged people to support the terror group and travel to Syria to fight.

Group leader Mohammed Istiak Alamgir, 37, who hailed the Tunisia terror attack as a “victory”, was handed six years.

Rajib Khan, 38, was an “important and influential” member of the group and was jailed for five years. He hailed the Charlie Hebdo atrocity in Paris as “excellent news”.

Yousaf Bashir, 36, gave a speech lasting just three minutes but it was still “just as powerful” as the others, the judge said. He was given four years and six months in prison.

Meanwhile, Mohammed Choudry, 23, spoke of “40 trucks driving down Oxford Street full of explosives”, the Old Bailey was told.He was heard to tell an invitation-only meeting in the Bedfordshire town: “A wave is coming – either be a part of it or you drown … Either you like it or you don’t like it.” Choudry, from Maidenhead, Berkshire, who began his path to radicalisation at 13, was jailed for four years. The judge described his speech as “truly chilling”.

Ziaur Rahman, 39, helped to organise the series of meetings in a marquee in his back garden and at an Anglican church in Luton. (which Anglican church? Will the bishop make inquiries and see that his clergy are well informed and conversant with the work of Patrick Sookhedeo and Mark Durie? I doubt it) The defendant, who confided to the undercover officer that he wanted to fight for IS, was handed two years and six months in prison.

Judge Topolski praised the “courage and resourcefulness” of the undercover officer who had infiltrated the group.

Bashir, Khan and Alamgir were last year found guilty of charges relating to encouraging support for a proscribed organisation. Details of their cases can be reported following a retrial of Choudry and Rahman, who faced similar charges.