“You have a long history of unpleasant, antisemitic threats and harassment,” says judge before jailing man over video inciting terrorism

A man with a history of antisemitic harassment has been jailed over a video inciting terrorism.

Shehroz Iqbal, 29, has been charged on multiple occasions over antisemitic incidents with no custodial sentence, leading to strong protest from Campaign Against Antisemitism. He also reportedly had a history of posting antisemitic messages – including a poster saying “Jewish scum” – and harassing synagogue members in Gants Hill, and he apparently sent the synagogue a threatening e-mail after it posted a picture of him on its website.

However, Mr Iqbal, who is from Ilford in East London, has now been given a sentence of eight-and-a-half years in prison over a video he posted in a WatsApp group of over twenty like-minded users called From Dark To Light on 11 March. The video was claimed to have incited a terror attack on London’s Royal Festival Hall with the words “Attack, attack”. He has previously shared propaganda on social media portraying Islamic State terrorist fighters. The sentence also includes time for drugs-related charges.

The Old Bailey heard during the trial that the posts had been discovered on his mobile phone after he was pulled over in that month for drug possession.

The prosecutor described him as “volatile and prone to act on his extremism”, and Judge Philip Katz QC said: “You have a long history of unpleasant, antisemitic threats and harassment.”