Hate preacher Anjem Choudary cannot appeal conviction for drumming up support for ISIS, judges rule

Hate preacher Anjem Choudary has lost a bid to challenge his conviction for drumming up support for Islamic State (IS).

Court of Appeal judges in London threw out his application for permission to appeal.

Choudary was jailed for five-and-a-half years in September last year following a trial at the Old Bailey.

Lady Justice Sharp and two other judges ruled that he did not have an "arguable" ground of appeal, and that his conviction was not "arguably unsafe".

His renewed application - which had been previously rejected by a single judge - was dismissed by the three judges on October 12, and they announced their reasons for doing so in a written judgment on Thursday.

Father-of-five Choudary, 49, from Ilford, and Mohammed Mizanur Rahman, 33, from Whitechapel, east London, were found guilty of inviting support for IS. Rahman was also sentenced to five-and-a-half years in prison.

The three appeal judges also rejected an application by Rahman for permission to appeal against his conviction, ruling in his case that he too did not have an arguable ground, and his conviction was not "arguably unsafe".

When sentencing last year, Mr Justice Holroyde said the men had shown "contempt for the values of the democracy in which we live" and failed to denounce the appalling violence of IS.