Muslim convicted of attacking boy embracing girlfriend

Coe was convicted of a similar offence in May 2013 for confronting a group about their 'inappropriate language'

A Muslim convert and associate of hate preacher Anjem Choudary is facing a substantial jail term after knocking a teenage boy unconscious for hugging his own girlfriend.

Michael Coe, 35, was driving through east London when he spotted the two 16-year-olds hugging on the pavement. He pulled over to confront the pair, demanding to know if they were Muslims and calling the girl a “whore.” He then grabbed the boy by the throat and threw him to the ground, kicking his head and leaving him unconscious and bleeding from two injuries. When passing schoolteacher Boutho Siwela tried to come to the teenager’s aid, he was also attacked.



Coe admitted “shoving” the boy but claimed he was acting in self-defence. He was convicted after a trial at Southwark crown court of assault occasioning actual bodily harm and battery in Wilson Road, Newham, on 15 April. Judge Michael Gledhill described Coe as a danger to the public and warned him that he faced a “substantial” term of imprisonment. Sentencing was adjourned until 21 September for further reports.

Known as Mikaeel Ibrahim since his conversion to Islam, Coe became a close associate of Choudary, who was convicted last week of supporting Islamic State. He was also on a list of individuals that Choudary was banned from having contact with while the hate preacher was on bail. This is not the first time Coe was convicted of an offence. His long list of offences including assaults, burglary, robbery and violent disorder dates back to when he was only 16.



In May 2013, he got out of his car to confront a group of young people about their “inappropriate language” on an estate in east London. During that incident, he allegedly called a girl a “slut” and others “kafir scum.” In 2007, while serving an eight-year term for firing a shotgun at police during an arrest, he was radicalised in prison by terrorist plotter Dhiren Barot in 2007. Coe has also been photographed at a demonstration on the 10th anniversary of the September 11 attacks. In December 2013, he took part in a protest in Brick Lane, east London, against Muslim shopkeepers selling alcohol.



The married father of two was jailed for 15 months after being found in the back of a lorry with false ID documents at the Kent port of Dover in November 2014. He was accused of planning to travel to Syria to join the Islamic State but was acquitted of engaging in conduct in preparation for terrorist acts.

 

 

This article originally appeared on The Guardian.