AN ISLAMIC convert infamous for ranting at the then home secretary, John Reid, as he spoke to a group of Muslims is facing life imprisonment after he was found guilty of fundraising for and inciting terrorism.
Abu Izzadeen has hit the headlines for his extreme views on Islam and his refusal to condemn the 7 July suicide bombers, who killed 52 people on the London transport system in 2005.
The former BT electrician, who lives off benefits, achieved more widespread notoriety when he interrupted John Reid in 2006 as he gave a speech to Muslims in east London.
But yesterday, Izzadeen was convicted by a jury for trying to raise cash to help terrorists in Iraq and Afghanistan, and incite other Muslims to go abroad and take up arms as terrorists.
The 32-year-old faces a maximum sentence of life for the offence of inciting terrorism, alongside three other men.
Simon Keeler, 36, was also convicted of both charges. Abdul Saleem, 32, and Ibrahim Hassan, 25, were convicted of inciting terrorism but cleared of fundraising for terrorists.
Two more, Shah Jilal Hussain and Abdul Muhid, both 25, were found guilty of fundraising for terrorists.
But Hussain will be sentenced in his absence tomorrow after he absconded while the jury were deliberating. He is still on the run more than a week later, and a warrant has been issued for his arrest.
A ban on reporting his absence was lifted by Judge Nicolas Price and the Metropolitan Police are appealing for any information on his whereabouts.
Two men walked free after the verdicts at Kingston Crown Court. Rajib Khan, 29, was cleared of fundraising and the jury also failed to reach a verdict in respect of the charge of inciting terrorism in his case.
They also failed to reach a verdict in respect of Omar Zaheer, 28, also charged with the same offence.
The jury did not return a verdict on a third offence of encouraging terrorism faced by Izzadeen, who changed his name from Trevor Brooks after converting to Islam.
The guilty men were all members of an extreme Islamic group known at the al-Muhajiroun.
Run by a preacher Omar Bakri, a self-styled sheikh, the group believes in world dominance of Islam and the imposition of Sharia law.
The group disbanded after Bakri fled the country in 2004 but senior members, including the defendants, kept its beliefs alive through offshoot organisations. Many of these have now been banned.
Although police were initially called in by worried community leaders, they had no evidence of the content of the speeches.
It was only the chance discovery of a DVD of the men speaking when police raided Bakri's flat after he left the country that brought them to light.
The jury heard how the guilty men gathered at Regent's Park mosque in central London on the evening of 9 November, 2004. It was a special holy night in the Muslim calendar but also coincided with the start of a battle for Fallujah in Iraq.
Prosecuting, Jonathan Laidlaw said: "What occurred was that these eight men delivered or contributed to a series of speeches and appeals for money, and in the case of five of the defendants, for volunteers to join in the fight against coalition troops. The speeches became more emotive and inflammatory and insulting."
They spoke of the importance of fulfilling the Muslim obligation of jihad. Some defendants said all those who could, should go to Iraq and fight, and others encouraged those who could not to make an annual charity donation, as required by Islam, to the mujahideen.
Izzadeen told his audience that the soldiers of the Black Watch, who had just been sent to Iraq, would be raping women and killing children as they helped the Americans.
It was only after giving their verdicts that the jury learned two of the men already have convictions for their part in the protests sparked by the publication of cartoons of the prophet Muhammed in a Danish newspaper.
Muhid is currently serving a four-year sentence after being convicted of soliciting murder at the protest in 2006. Saleem was also jailed for his part in the protest. He was sentenced to 30 months after being convicted of stirring up racial hatred.