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| Radical cleric Anjem Choudary guilty of inviting IS support | Radical cleric Anjem Choudary guilty of inviting IS support |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| Radical UK cleric Anjem Choudary has been convicted of inviting others to support the so-called Islamic State group, it can now be reported. | |
| Choudary, 49, drummed up support for the militant group in a series of talks posted on YouTube, the Old Bailey heard. | |
| He was convicted alongside his confidant, Mohammed Mizanur Rahman. | |
| The Met Police said many people tried for serious offences "attended lectures or speeches given by these men." | |
| Counter-terrorism chiefs have spent almost 20 years trying to bring Choudary to trial, blaming him, and the proscribed organisations which he helped to run, for radicalising young men and women. | |
| The verdict on the two defendants was delivered on 28 July, but for legal reasons can only now be reported. | |
| How Anjem Choudary's mouth was finally shut | How Anjem Choudary's mouth was finally shut |
| The trial heard how the men decided in the summer of 2014 that the group then known as Isis [Islamic State in Iraq and al-Sham/the Levant] had formed a "Khilafah", or Islamic State, that demanded the obedience and support of Muslims. | The trial heard how the men decided in the summer of 2014 that the group then known as Isis [Islamic State in Iraq and al-Sham/the Levant] had formed a "Khilafah", or Islamic State, that demanded the obedience and support of Muslims. |
| They then invited others to support IS through speeches and announced their own oath of allegiance to its leader. | They then invited others to support IS through speeches and announced their own oath of allegiance to its leader. |
| The oath of allegiance was a "turning point" which meant they could be put on trial, police said. | |
| Choudary was once the spokesman for al-Muhajiroun, an organisation that can be linked to dozens of terrorism suspects. | Choudary was once the spokesman for al-Muhajiroun, an organisation that can be linked to dozens of terrorism suspects. |
| Its leader Omar Bakri Muhammad fled the UK after the London suicide bombings on 7 July 2005. Over the years since, Choudary has become one of the most influential radical Islamists in Europe and a string of his followers have either left the UK to fight in Syria or tried to do so. | Its leader Omar Bakri Muhammad fled the UK after the London suicide bombings on 7 July 2005. Over the years since, Choudary has become one of the most influential radical Islamists in Europe and a string of his followers have either left the UK to fight in Syria or tried to do so. |
| The court heard that in one speech in March 2013 Choudary made it clear that he wanted the Muslim faith to "dominate the whole world". | |
| "Next time when your child is at school and the teacher says 'What do you want when you grow up? What is your ambition?', they should say 'To dominate the whole world by Islam, including Britain - that is my ambition'," he said. | |
| Commander Dean Haydon, head of the Met Police's counter-terrorism unit, said the case which led to the conviction of Choudary and Rahman was a "significant prosecution in our fight against terrorism". | |
| He said: "These men have stayed just within the law for many years, but there is no-one within the counter terrorism world that has any doubts of the influence that they have had, the hate they have spread and the people that they have encouraged to join terrorist organisations. | He said: "These men have stayed just within the law for many years, but there is no-one within the counter terrorism world that has any doubts of the influence that they have had, the hate they have spread and the people that they have encouraged to join terrorist organisations. |
| "Over and over again we have seen people on trial for the most serious offences who have attended lectures or speeches given by these men. | "Over and over again we have seen people on trial for the most serious offences who have attended lectures or speeches given by these men. |
| "The oath of allegiance was a turning point for the police - at last we had the evidence that they had stepped over the line and we could prove they supported ISIS." | "The oath of allegiance was a turning point for the police - at last we had the evidence that they had stepped over the line and we could prove they supported ISIS." |
| He said the trial had considered over 20 years' worth of material over more than 333 electronic devices containing 12.1 terabytes of storage data. | He said the trial had considered over 20 years' worth of material over more than 333 electronic devices containing 12.1 terabytes of storage data. |
| Choudary and Rahman will be sentenced at the Old Bailey on 6 September. | Choudary and Rahman will be sentenced at the Old Bailey on 6 September. |
| 'He liked playing games' | |
| By BBC home affairs correspondent Dominic Casciani | |
| The flag of Islam will fly over Downing Street, was his favourite prediction, followed by some kind of rhetorical flourish. "The Muslims are rising to establish the Sharia... Pakistan, Afghanistan and perhaps, my dear Muslims, Londonistan." | |
| He would greet the journalists with a smile, and some guile, dressed up as charm. | |
| He liked playing games. It gave him a sense that he was winning. | |
| Except it wasn't a game. The evidence now shows that Anjem Choudary is one of the most dangerous men in Britain. Not a bomb-maker. Not a facilitator. But an ideologue, a thinker, who encouraged others not to stop and think for themselves before they turned to violence to implement their shared worldview. | |
| How Anjem Choudary's mouth was finally shut |