Anjem Choudary’s bodyguard, known as the “Muslim enforcer”, has been jailed for attacking a young boy because he was cuddling his non-Muslim girlfriend.
Michael Coe, 35, was behind a so-called “Muslim Patrol”, whereby he and other followers of convicted Islamic State recruiter Mr. Choudary tried to violently enforce Sharia law on the streets of East London.
He was jailed for two years and four months, and as he was led out of court to his cell, he smiled and waved to his mother in the public gallery.
Mr. Coe, who converted to Islam when imprisoned along with a known al Qaeda terrorist, was convicted of Actual Bodily Harm after leaving the 16-year-old boy bloodied and beaten in the street this April.
He allegedly demanded to know if the couple were Muslim, and called the girl, also 16, a “whore”.
“Let that schoolgirl go”, the boy was told, before he added: “How would you like it if your sister was cuddling?” When they replied, he said: “Why am I wasting my time with you if you are not Muslim?”
Judge Michael Gledhill QC branded him a “self-appointed enforcer” who was prepared to resort to violence where necessary.
According to the Evening Standard, he said: “You saw two young people behaving as young people lawfully and frequently do in every town and every street across the country.
“In my judgement, you took offence very shortly after you saw these two because you thought they were young Muslims and to your way of thinking at that time, Islam prohibits such behaviour.
“You stopped to reprimand them and you were acting as a self-appointed enforcer of your interpretation at the time of how a Muslim should behave.”
Mr. Cole has a long, violent history, including threatening an officer with a knife. He was “radicalised” by al Qaeda terrorist Dhiren Barot when in prison before adopting the name Mikael Ibrahim, the court heard during the trial.
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