A Muslim man was today found guilty of stirring up racial hatred during a protest against the publication of cartoons depicting the prophet Muhammad.
An Old Bailey jury convicted Abdul Saleem, from Poplar, east London, after a four-day trial. The 31-year-old BT engineer was remanded in custody for pre-sentence reports.
He had denied using threatening, abusive or insulting words or behaviour with intent to stir up racial hatred.
The court was told that the father of five was the "cheerleader" of hundreds of protesters at the demonstration in February last year.
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Saleem was filmed chanting "7/7 on its way" and "Europe you will pay with your blood" as demonstrators marched from the Regents Park mosque to the Danish embassy, the court heard.
The trial was told that the cartoons - which were first published in Denmark and later across Europe but not in the UK - had sparked widespread protests because many Muslims believe their religion forbids any depiction of the prophet.
Prosecutor David Perry told the jury that Saleem had chanted slogans such as "Bin Laden on his way" for the crowd to respond to.
Police feared that public disorder could have resulted if they had made any arrests, so they instead gathered evidence of any criminal offence using video equipment.
Saleem told the trial that, while his words could be seen as "threatening", he had not intended to be. He said he was repeating slogans "because everyone else was saying it".
Rock Tansey, Saleem's lawyer, applied for his bail to be continued, saying: "He is a family man with solid roots in his community. This is an act that seems to be out of character."
However, Judge Brian Barker refused the request.
