A friend of one of Lee Rigby killers is due for sentencing at the Old Bailey after being found guilty of terrorism offences.
Married father-of-two Ibrahim Hassan, 29, also known as Abu Nusaybah, was arrested following an interview with BBC Newsnight, during which he divulged that Michael Adebolajo had been allegedly offered a job by MI5.
Hassan, alongside his co-defendant Shah Hussain, 31 pleaded guilty to the propagation of a terrorist publication – just two days after Middleton Fusilier Rigby’s brutal murder.
The pair, who currently remain in custody, also confessed to separate charges of glorifying terrorism.
Police also discovered material that joked about dismembering and assassinating former world leaders Prime Minister Tony Blair and George W. Bush after a search.
Hassan was arrested when police became aware he was performing a pre-recorded interview with BBC Newsnight on May 24 last year.
In the interview, he claimed Middleton soldier Rigby’s killer Adebolajo was tortured in Kenya and was allegedly harassed by the secret services, according to Ms Karmy-Jones.
At a sentencing in court last month, prosecutor Riel Karmy-Jones stated that Hassan and Hussain had previously been involved with the banned Islamic extremist group al-Muhajiroun, commanded by hate cleric Anjem Choudary.
Hassan had expressed his faith in Sharia law, claiming that the British justice system was ‘too soft’ on criminals, in a monologue broadcast on Channel 4, according to the lawyer.
Ms Karmy-Jones also pointed out a video discovered in Hussain’s home disclosed footage of him and his wife joking about their baby son ‘chopping off the hands’ of former PM Blair.
The court also heard that, in November 2012, police recovered five audio files recorded by Hassan entitled In Pursuit of Allah’s Governance on Earth, which contained extremist Islamic content and had been uploaded to a file-sharing website.
Hussain and Hassan also hosted a website which posted lectures, articles and videos from radical clerics including Abu Hamza and Abu Qatada.
The website’s YouTube channel featured a lecture by the late Al-Qaeda propagandist Anwar al-Awlaki, the court was informed.
Hassan admitted to the encouragement of terrorism on or before the date last year, relating to the five audio files.
The charge of disseminating a terrorist publication, which Hassan and Hussain admitted, related to the audio file titled The Ruling on Insulting The Prophet of Anwar al-Awlaki delivering his The Dust Will Never Settle speech.
Hussain also pleaded guilty to the encouragement of terrorism relating to a video lecture entitled Signs of A Good Death in Islam which was published on or before June 5 last year.
The court was told that the pair were previously convicted in 2008 after delivering speeches at the Regent’s Park mosque in London, in which they glorified and propagated terrorist activity abroad.
Hassan, who was just 19 at the time of the offence in 2004, spoke of assassinating Blair and then-US President Bush and called for his Muslim ‘brothers’ to obey Al-Qaeda founder Osama bin Laden.
Hussain, 24 at the time, said he would slaughter Mr Bush if he had a knife with him and called for support for ‘Osama’ the hearing was also told.
Following a trial, Hassan was jailed for two years for inciting terrorism, while Hussain received a two-year sentence for fundraising terrorism abroad.
Hassan, of Carr Road, Walthamstow, east London, also has previous convictions for robbery in 2001, religiously aggravated harassment in 2005 alongside two counts of assaulting a police officer in 2007.
Hussain, of Cannon Street Road, Whitechapel, east London, was previously convicted of possessing an offensive weapon.
Earlier in 2014, Adebolajo was handed a whole-life sentence with no chance of parole for the murder of Rigby, whilst Michael Adebowale was given life with a minimum term of 45 years.
