Who is Anjem Choudary and when was he released? Radical preacher jailed for terrorism offences at HMP Frankland

HATE preacher Anjem Choudary has been freed from prison on parole, despite still being judged “genuinely dangerous”.

The cleric has been in custody since 2016 after being found guilty of drumming up support for ISIS. Here's what you need to know.

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Who is Anjem Choudary?

Anjem Choudary is a 51-year-old British Islamist activist and hate preacher.

The dad-of-five from East London was born in the UK of Pakistani descent.

Choudhary attended Mulgrave School in Woolwich before he enrolled as a medical student at the University of Southampton though he failed his first-year exams.

He switched to law and spent his final year as a legal student at Guildford, before moving to London to teach English as a second language.

He found work at a legal firm and completed his legal qualifications to become a lawyer.

Choudary became the chairman of the Society of Muslim Lawyers, but was removed from the roll of solicitors (the official register of legal practitioners) in 2002.

He is best known for leading the group al-Muhajiroun, which was banned as a terror organisation.

Police has wanted to lock him up for decades but he dodged justice for 20 years by “staying within the law” despite links to known jihadis.

Choudary inspired a generation of home-grown terrorists, including the butchers of Drummer Lee Rigby and the July 7 gang who killed 52 on London’s public transport network in 2005.

Another of his disciples was London Bridge attacker Khurram Butt.

Why was Choudary in prison?

The radical preacher was jailed for five-and-a-half years in 2016 after making speeches urging Muslims to support ISIS.

Choudary and sidekick Mohammad Mizanur Rahman were convicted in July 2016 in a landmark freedom of speech case.

They had signed an oath of allegiance to the terror group after it declared an Islamic Caliphate in July 2014.

They also recorded speeches uploaded onto YouTube in which Choudary called for Islam to achieve “world domination” with the black flag flying from Downing Street and the White House and for “kuffar” non-believers to be executed.

At the time of his sentencing, the hate preacher had been linked to 15 terror plots over 20 years and had connections with hundreds of British jihadists who had gone to fight in Syria.

The Sun revealed Choudary was one of the first radical extremists to be placed in a new high-security "jihadi" wing at HMP Frankland in Co Durham.

When was he released?

The radical hate preacher was released from Belmarsh Prison on October 19, 2018 - after serving just half of his five-and-a-half year sentence.

He had also spent some of his sentence in a special "separation unit" for dangerous extremists inside Frankland Prison in County Durham, to limit his possible influence over other inmates.

His release came despite Prisons Minister Rory Stewart admitting that the hate preacher is still “genuinely dangerous”.

Mr Stewart has pledged that the "completely pernicious" cleric will be watched "very, very carefully" by police and security services upon release.

Choudary has been released on licence but has been hit with a list of 25 conditions for his freedom.

He is banned from leaving London to stop him radicalising others around Britain.

And he is not allowed to go to St Pancras Station of City Airport to stop him trying to flee the country.

He is also banned from contacting any of his extremist associates, including Rahman.

Cops will be allowed to insect his phone and monitor his internet access if they let him use a computer.

Breaking any of the conditions could see him returned to jail.

It also emerged the UN will hit him with sanctions to freeze his assets.

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On November 11, the cleric - who gained two stone in weight during his time behind bars - was seen gorging on a McDonald's meal in London with a female companion.

He grinned as he poured his McDonald's french fries onto his tray to go alongside a burger he purchased.