Anjem Choudary was said to have taken a 'caretaker' role as head of the banned Islamist group Al-Muhajiroun
Anjem Choudary was said to have taken a 'caretaker' role as head of the banned Islamist group Al-Muhajiroun AFP

A judge on Tuesday sentenced Anjem Choudary, one of the UK's most recognised radical Islamist preachers, to life jail after he was found guilty of directing a banned "terrorist organisation".

Sentencing Choudary at Woolwich Crown Court in London to a minimum term of 28 years, judge Mark Wall told the 57-year-old former lawyer that he was "front and centre in running a terrorist organisation".

The prosecution followed a joint investigation by London's Metropolitan Police, the New York Police Department (NYPD) and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.

He will serve more than 26 years behind bars in total due to the time he has already spent in custody, meaning he will not be released before the age of 85, Wall said.

Explaining why he had ordered the lengthy term, the judge added that Choudary had "encouraged young men into radical activity".

Long in the authorities' sights, Choudary has already spent time in jail for supporting the jihadist Islamic State group.

His return to prison comes after a jury last week convicted him of being the "caretaker" leader of Al-Muhajiroun (ALM), which was proscribed in the UK in 2010.

The group was founded in 1996 by London-based Syrian-born cleric Omar Bakri Muhammad with the goal of establishing an Islamic caliphate in the UK.

Its members have been implicated in a number of attacks, including the murder of British soldier Lee Rigby in 2013, and attacks on London Bridge in 2017 and 2019.

Despite claims it had been disbanded, prosecutors said Al-Muhajiroun still exists under different names, including the New York-based Islamic Thinkers Society.

US law enforcement officers infiltrated the group and attended online lectures it hosted with Choudary in 2022 and 2023, sparking police probes in Britain and Canada.

"There are individuals that have conducted terrorist attacks or travelled for terrorist purposes as a result of Anjem Choudary's radicalising impact upon them," Dominic Murphy, of London's Metropolitan Police, said after the conviction.

Rebecca Weiner, deputy commissioner of the New York Police Department, told reporters Choudary's conviction was "historic" and described him as a "shameless, prolific radicaliser".

"It is usually the foot soldiers, the individuals who are brought into the network who go on to commit the attacks who are brought to justice," she said.

"It's rarely the leader, which is what makes this a particularly important moment."

Choudary, the son of a market trader, became a familiar media figure after staging demonstrations in front of UK mosques, embassies and police stations in the early 2000s.

His ultimate goal, he said, was to fly the flag of Islam above 10 Downing Street, the prime minister's residence.

He was jailed for five and a half years in 2016 for encouraging support for the Islamic State group, and was released early from prison in 2018.

Choudary's co-defendant Khaled Hussein, 29, from Edmonton, Canada, was also convicted of membership of ALM and was sentenced to five years in prison on Tuesday.