PREACHER of death Anjem Choudary was last night starting a five a half year sentence for inciting terrorism - less than a year for every major terrorist murder plot he inspired.

The hate preacher has incited some of the worst terror killings in this country and abroad but will be serving less than six months for every terrorist atrocity he is known to have influenced.

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Outrage erupted last night over the sentence which will mean terror pied piper Choudary and sidekick Mohammad Mizanur Rahman, being freed in two and a half years time.

Terror experts said the sentence ''mocked justice."

Labour MP John Woodcock said: “This measly sentence is only one year in prison for each one of his plots to kill civilians, soldiers and the British way of life. It’s just not enough.

“Given the difficulty of bringing people to justice we should be grateful for the guilty verdict at all.

“However, given that this was a man who was actively inciting British people to go and fight against our soldiers, kill civilians and destroy our way of life, the few years he’s got will seem way too lenient.”

Kalsoom (corr) Bashir co-director of counter-extremism charity Inspire said: “One year per plot doesn’t seem very much for the damage and devastation caused to the families left behind, and had he succeeded in these terror plots it would have been catastrophic.

“He was the mastermind behind it.”

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Ms Bashir added: “I’m relieved he has been convicted. It’s taken a long time for police to gather the evidence. I’m disappointed it is not the maximum. He has been radicalising people for at least 15 years.

“He has shown no remorse. He was very clever. He made very sure he did not break the law for a long time.

“It’s taken this long even though we knew he was a nasty piece of work.

“I imagine he will be released before five years. He’s actually continued to show no remorse throughout the case.

“I think he’s a danger to anybody he’s come into contact with.”

Professor Anthony Glees, a security expert at Buckingham University, said: 'In my view the sentence is far too lenient, mocks justice and will horrify the families of those whose loved ones followed his call to fight for Daesh [ISIS].

'This is a highly dangerous, sinister and wicked person from whom we have a right to be protected for a very long time. Once again an English court has delivered a soft verdict which is no deterrent.

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'He'll be out in two-and-half years and there's no reason to believe prison can reform him or make him see how appalling his recruitment of young Brits had been.'

Haras Rafiq, from counter-extremism group the Quilliam Foundation, added: "He has got five-and-a-half years for 15 years of radicalising youngsters in Britain and beyond towards jihadist terrorism. This is a sad indictment of the current state of our legislation."

Former Scotland Yard commander John O' Connor said: "Choudary is responsible for a host of atrocities. You cannot quantify what he has done in years of imprisonment.

"He has been a major influence in some of the worst crimes ever committed in this country and abroad."

A dozen robed followers in the public gallery yelled ‘Allahu Akbar’ – God is great – as Choudary and Rahman, given the same sentence as his mentor, were led from the dock after being jailed.

The jobless pair were convicted in July of inviting support for an outlawed terrorist organisation, ISIS, in a landmark freedom of speech case.

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Father-of-five Choudary and Rahman will be free in just under two-and-a-half years with an automatic 50 per cent remission from their tariff and respectively having 140 and 143 days docked off their sentence for time spent in custody and on a curfew while on bail.

The court heard that both men will be locked up in solitary confinement during their imprisonment because of their notoriety.

But the judge gave both a 15-year notification order to inform police of their whereabouts on their release.

During yesterday’s hearing, Judge Holroyde also raised questions about the pair’s willingness to accept hand-outs from a state they despise.

After hearing how married Rahman, who has a young family, regards accepting money for his speeches as “anathema,” Judge Holroyd asked: 'Is it not an anathema to be funded by the liberal Western democracy he so adamantly despises?'

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Dole scroungers Choudary and Rahman were convicted after signing 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 “kuffar” non-believers being executed.

Choudary had escaped justice for 20 years by “staying within the law” while inspiring a generation of jihadis, including the butchers of Drummer Lee Rigby and the July 7 gang who killed 52 innocent people and injured more than 1,000 on London’s public transport network in 2005.

Another of Choudary’s disciples was East Londoner Siddhartha Dhar, a replacement for Jihadi John who was filmed shooting a prisoner in the back of the head on an Islamic State film posted online in January this year.

It was Hindu-born Dhar who encouraged Choudary to publicly offer his support to the Islamic caliphate declared by ISIL in June 2014, telling him his words on Twitter “would be gold” and which finally led to the hatemonger's downfall.

Dhar was arrested with Choudary and Rahman in September 2014 but skipped bail and travelled to Syria with his pregnant wife and their four children before going on to become an official executioner for the terrorist group.

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Choudary is also blamed for encouraging hundreds of British Islamic radicals to travel to Syria to join the ISIS terror group.

Dressed in a white tunic, while his co-accused wore a blue one, bearded Choudary acknowledged his supporters in the public gallery and spoke only to confirm his name.

Judge Holroyde described Choudary as the senior of the pair, who were both leading lights in the prescribed Al-Muhajiroun jihadist group, but gave both the same sentence because of Rahman’s previous conviction in 2007 for soliciting murder.

He was jailed for three years for calling for more 9/11 attacks to be carried out during the 2006 Danish cartoon protests in London, for which Choudary was convicted and fined £500 for organising a protest without informing authorities.

The judge dismissed claims by Choudary and Rahman in their trial defence that that they were only showing “intellectual” support for an Islamic caliphate.

He said : “It was in my view very likely that some of your followers would be influenced by your words to lend active support and use violence in support of ISIS."

As he jailed Choudary and Rahman, Judge Holroyde stressed he did not take into account any evidence not heard in the month-long trial.

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He said : “My duty is to sentence you for the offences for which you have been convicted.”

Judge Holroyde went on : “The jury were sure you knowingly crossed the line between the legitimate expression of your own views and the criminal act of inviting support for an organisation which was at the time engaged in appalling acts of terrorism.

“The absence of any direct link does not mean your offences are not serious.

“You indirectly encouraged violent terrorist activity.”

The judge describe Rahman as “something of a hot head” while saying Choudary was “more calculating.”

He added : “In your differing ways I regard each of you as dangerous.

“You showed no remorse at all for anything you have done and I have no doubt you will continue to communicate with or message each other when you can.”

Choudary and Rahman have a combined Twitter following of more 60,000 and Mr Justice Holroyd said it was important to consider who was listening to their broadcasts.

He said : “Some, no doubt, would approach them with an open mind and form a considered opinion as to the merits of what you said.

“It was however in my view very likely that a significant proportion of those who would listen to your words would be impressionable persons who were looking to you for guidance as to how they should act, and would be ready to do what you said was necessary or appropriate.

“Furthermore, when you were delivering your lectures you could have no control over the way in which those who were influenced by you would choose to show their support for Isis.”

Then Home Secretary Theresa May proscribed ISIS as a terror group on 20 June 2014 while the 'Caliphate' was declared by al-Baghdadi on 29 June 2014.

Days later Choudary held a curry house meeting in London's East End with allies to pledge his support.

Others present at the meeting were IS executioner Dhar and convicted terrorist Simon Keeler.

Choudary and Rahman then swore an oath of allegiance to the barbaric terror group along with hate preacher Omar Bakri Muhammad, who is in a Libyan jail, and Muhammad Fachry - also serving a prison sentence in Indonesia - who posted the document online.

Following the sentencing, Commander Dean Haydon, head of of the Met's Counter Terrorism Command, welcomed the sentences and said Choudary and Rahman had “poisoned minds of vulnerable people.”

He went on: “Both of these men were preaching hate and extremism and encouraging others to join terrorist organisations here and overseas.

“They were associated with proscribed organisations and connected to terrorist organisations overseas.

'They have been poisoning the minds of vulnerable people within the community and encouraging others to join terrorist organisations.'

Commander Haydon added : “I would class them as preachers of hate. They have radicalised others and encouraged others to join terrorist organisations.

“These two individuals are extremists who have had a significant influence over a number of people across the UK.

“These men have stayed just within the law for many years and there has been frustration for both law enforcement agencies and communities as they spread hate.

“We have watched Choudary developing a media career as spokesman for the extremists, saying the most distasteful of comments, but without crossing the criminal threshold.

“Their speeches and the oath of allegiance were a turning point for the police - at last we had the evidence that they had stepped over the line and we could prove they were actively encouraging support of ISIS.”

The medical student who went on to inspire Lee Rigby killers

Anjem Choudary, 49, was born in north London and after leaving school began studying medicine at St Barts medical school.

He changed courses after his first year, enrolling at the Guildford College of Law (now the University of Law).

After taking his articles and clerkship, Choudary opened his own solicitors' practice in his late 20s where his roles included 'assistant for racial equality'.

Giving evidence in court he said his developing religious beliefs did not sit easily with certain aspects of the law.

"I found it very difficult to give advice to people which was contrary to the divine text,' he told jurors.

"There was a period in time where I reviewed my life and decided there was a better path for me.

"I believe ultimately we will all face our creator and our relationship with him should be a good one.

"The real court and the real judgement is on the day of judgement.' In 1996, aged 29, he married Rubana Akhtar and went on to have five children, supporting his family on state benefits.

Choudary began studying under Syrian-born Sheikh Omar Bakri Muhammad, a Salafi Islamist militant leader, who he compared to a famous Rabbi or Priest.

Bakri set up the extremist group Al-Muhajiroun, now outlawed in the UK as a terror organisation.

Choudary used to assist Bakri as an assistant judge in the Sharia court before starting to deal with cases himself in the late Nineties and travelled with Bakri to Libya in 2005.

But he returned to the UK to run Al-Muhajiroun after being thrown out of the country where Bakri is now in jail.

Choudary remained a key figure within the group as it changed names and operated under numerous aliases after 2004, including Islam4UK.

He was the group's media spokesman during the time the group put out 'incendiary statements' calling for Buckingham Palace to be turned into a Mosque and Nelson's Column to be destroyed.

Under Choudary's influence, similar groups sprang up all over the world, including France and Belgium, where Choudary is still wanted for over a public order offence.

Choudary amassed 32,000 Twitter followers and was an avid user of social media and YouTube.

He took to the stand on the anniversary of the 7/7 London bombings wearing a white traditional Islamic robe and glasses.

Choudary swore an oath to Allah before giving evidence but refused to lay his hand on the Qu'ran.

The charismatic figure told how he would 'bait' the media with controversial statements to spread his message and made dozens of appearances on all of the major news channels.

Choudary had hundreds of international media contacts he would message before a demonstration, including 31 from the BBC.

He boasted of sharing a platform with the former head of the head of the Bar - Lord Philip - in Red Lion Sqaure and of an invitation to debate at the Oxford Union.

'The bigger the audience, the more beneficial,' he said.

'Prophets of old used to stand and preach on the mountains. The equivalent is Sky News, CNN nowadays.'

In 2003, he appeared on Irish TV's Late Late Show with Pat Kelly in which he talked about how Osama bin Laden was a hero to many Muslims in Indonesia and Pakistan.

Choudary said it was typical of his media appearances and continued 'I was recently asked about Brexit'.

He told how the Leave campaign jumped on his comments in the days before the referendum.

Choudary and the groups associated with him had called for Sharia law across the UK and the establishment of a Caliphate.

He had been opensly sympathetic to ISIS until the organisation was proscribed on 20 June 2014.

Days after ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi declared the Caliphate on 29 June 2014, Choudary met with his inner circle and agreed the state was legitimate before adding his name to an oath of alliegance that appeared online.

He was arrested on 25 September 2014, re-bailed on 27 January last year, then charged with terror offences on 5 August 2015.

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