Hackney-born hate preacher arrested in Hungary

Finsbury Park Mosque: it is believed Izzadeen attended speeches by Abu Hamza at the Islington mosque. Photograph: Matt Buck

A Hackney-born Islamist extremist who is banned from leaving the UK has been arrested in Hungary, it has emerged.

On Saturday police stopped Abu Izzadeen at the Hungarian border town Lokoshaza on a train destined for Romania, raising concerns he may have been trying to reach Syria.

Izzadeen was travelling with another known British extremist, Simon Keeler, despite the fact that both them are subject to a travel ban that prevents them from leaving the country.

In 2008 the pair was jailed for inciting terrorism abroad and terrorist fundraising.

Izzadeen, also known as Trevor Brooks, was born to a Christian Jamaican family in Hackney, but converted to Islam aged 17.

In 2006 he gained notoriety for heckling the then Home Secretary, John Reid, during the minister’s speech at a Leytonstone school.

The Muslim activist is thought to have been radicalised by Omar Bakri Mohammed and Abu Hamza at Finsbury Park mosque.

A spokesperson for the Metropolitan Police said: “On Sunday 15 November officers from the Met’s Counter Terrorism Command (SO15) were informed that two UK nationals had been detained in Hungary.

“After further enquiries, UK officers applied for arrest warrants for both men for breaches of notification requirements under Part 4 of the Counter-Terrorism Act 2008, which were granted at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Monday 16 November.

“[We] can confirm officers from the Met’s Counter Terrorism Command (SO15) have carried out searches at two residential addresses in east London. The searches are in connection with an investigation linked to two UK men that were detained in Hungary on Sunday 15 November.”

The investigation is not linked to recent events in Paris.