Anjem Choudary, the radical UK preacher and ISIS supporter, has been sentenced to five and a half years in prison. From the BBC:

Radical preacher Anjem Choudary has been jailed for five-and-a-half years for inviting support for the so-called Islamic State group…

As he was sentenced, Choudary’s supporters stood up in the public gallery and shouted: “Allahu Akbar” – Arabic for God is Great. He smiled and disappeared down to the cells.

The judge gave the same sentence to Choudary’s associate Mohammed Mizanur Rahman. The police and counter-terror organizations were pleased to finally see Choudary headed to prison after more than 15 years preaching extremism:

The head of the Metropolitan Police’s counter terrorism command, Commander Dean Haydon, said the pair caused “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,” he said.

The Daily Mail reports a professor at Buckingham University felt the sentence was too short:

Professor Anthony Glees, a security expert at Buckingham University, called for the government to force a review of the jail term.

Prof Glees 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.

‘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.’

This Sky News report is from last month when Choudary was convicted: