A man previously convicted for stirring up racial hatred after sticking up antisemitic posters outside a synagogue in Gants Hill has been jailed for encouraging terrorism. 

Shehroz Iqbal, 29, from East London, was sentenced during a hearing at the Old Bailey last week to more than eight years behind bars for terror offences.

He was found guilty last month of disseminating terrorist material and encouraging terrorism.

He was arrested earlier this year after counter terrorism detectives found an Isis propaganda video on his Facebook page. 

Analysis of his devices uncovered footage of Iqbal in central London inciting an attack on the Royal Festival Hall, featuring the words ‘Attack, Attack'. The clip had been uploaded to a WhatsApp group. 

Iqbal was convicted last year after taping antisemitic posters near Gants Hill underground station and outside the Chabad Lubavitch Centre in 2017.

He was sentenced then to 12 months' imprisonment suspended for two years, 30 days rehabilitation activity, 60 hours unpaid work and a £100 fine for breaching a previous suspended sentence.

“I am very pleased with this sentence,”  said Commander Richard Smith, who heads the Metropolitan Police's Counter Terrorism Command.

“Shehroz Iqbal is a volatile man with an extremist mindset who has now been sentenced to a lengthy time in prison.

“Thanks to the vigilance of counter terrorism officers we identified Iqbal’s illegal activity and were able to prevent him from carrying out something far more harmful,” he added.