Hate preacher Anjem Choudary facing jail over Islamic State support.

Anjem Choudary

Hate preacher Anjem Choudary is facing up to 10 years in jail when he is sentenced later for drumming up support for Islamic State (IS).

The British-born 49-year-old backed the terrorist group in a series of talks posted on YouTube, and recognised a caliphate - a symbolic Islamic state - had been created under an IS leader after it was announced on June 29 2014, the Old Bailey heard.

Despite being a leading figure in the banned group al-Muhajiroun (ALM), and with a series of former supporters going on to be convicted of terrorism, Choudary stayed on the right side of the law for two decades.

But the pledge of allegiance posted online provided a turning point for police who swooped to arrest Choudary and Mohammed Mizanur Rahman, 33, from Whitechapel, east London.

Following an Old Bailey trial, the pair were found guilty of inviting support for IS between June 29 2014 and March 6 2015 and remanded in custody.

For legal reasons, details of the case could not be reported until three weeks after the guilty verdicts were delivered on July 28.

Choudary faces a maximum possible sentence of 10 years in prison, although Mr Justice Holroyde said there was little precedent for such cases.

The trial heard that the preacher, viewed by officers as a key force in radicalising young Muslims, had been the "mouthpiece" of Omar Bakri Mohammed - the founder of the banned extremist group ALM.

He courted publicity by voicing controversial views on Sharia law, while building up a following of thousands through social media, demonstrations and lectures around the world.

In one speech in March 2013, Choudary, from Ilford, north-east London, set out his ambitions for the Muslim faith to "dominate the whole world".