A man who acted as a 'bodyguard' for radical preacher Anjem Choudary is facing jail after he was convicted of attacking a schoolboy in the street.

Michael Coe, 35, from Greenwhich, south east London, who weighs 16st 7lb, grabbed the 16-year-old when he saw him cuddling his girlfriend, also 16, in the street in East Ham, London, in April.

He demanded to know whether the teenagers were Muslim and called the girl a 'w***e' before throwing the boy against a brick wall, knocking him unconscious.

The jury at Southwark Crown Court was not aware that Michael Coe, pictured right, a Muslim convert, was part of Choudary's inner circle and had attended numerous protests

After seeing the young couple cuddling in the street in East Ham, London, he got out of his car and attacked them

Coe then attacked a 5ft 2ins college teacher who came to the couple's rescue and tried to grab his mobile phone after he took a picture of Coe's number plate.

Coe was convicted of Actual Bodily Harm and battery following a trial at Southwark Crown Court.

The jury was not aware that Coe, a Muslim convert, was part of Choudary's inner circle and that he had attended numerous protests with the radical preacher.

It has now been revealed that Coe has attended many protests supporting and protecting the radical preacher Anjem Choudary

Anjem Choudary is an activist and critic of the UK's involvement in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan

Coe has a history of violent offences, including threatening police officers with a shotgun while on parole for a knifepoint carjacking, and has spent around 12 of the last 19 years behind bars.

WHAT CAN BE DONE ABOUT RADICALISATION BEHIND BARS? It is believed prisoners are being approached by dangerous Islamist extremists behind bars in order to drum up more support for ISIS. Following more cases being revealed, like Michael Coe, now known as Mikhaeel Ibrahim, a government-ordered review is calling for extremists to be held in separate prisons to prevent the ‘self-styled emirs’ radicalising others. Ministers have confirmed planning is under way to create specialist units within the high security estate in order to remove the most dangerous extremists from the general population. Advertisement

He became a Muslim in prison after meeting al-Qaeda terrorist Dhiren Barot, who was jailed for life for plotting to detonate limousines packed with gas canisters.

Judge Michael Gledhill QC adjourned Coe's sentencing so that a pre-sentence report can be completed.

He told the court: 'Having seen them cuddling he took offence because he thought that they were Muslims and to his way of thinking Islam prohibits such behaviour.

'He stopped to reprimand them, acting as a self-appointed enforcer.'

The judge concluded Coe had told a 'pack of lies' to police after trying to 'force his religious views on others'.

He said a jail sentence is 'inevitable' and that 'it will be substantial' and that he is considering a greater sentence than the guidelines suggest.

Choudary (left) has strong views which he shares at protests with Coe (right) and has even been known to have praised those responsible for the 11 September 2001 and 7 July 2005 attacks

'I take the view that this man is dangerous. I believe that he poses a very high risk of committing further offences of violence when he is released from prison.'

Prosecutor Jonathan Polnay told Southwark Crown Court that Coe's attack on the teenagers was 'unpleasant and utterly unwarranted'.

Mr Polnay said the pair were 'doing what some 16-year-olds do all the time. They were unfortunate enough that of all the people driving by it was this defendant.'

Coe, pictured outside the Old Bailey, was convicted of Actual Bodily Harm and battery

Coe stopped and asked the pair if they were Muslim before grabbing the boy and lifting him up by the collar.

Nearby engineering teacher Boutho Siwela witnessed the attack and photographed Coe's licence plate to identify the attacker.

Coe turned on the 5ft 2in teacher, picking him up and throwing him to the ground.

The prosecutor said it was 'a case of unpleasant bullying with religious overtones, in the street, followed by an attack by a 35-year-old man on a 16-year-old schoolboy.'

Coe claimed to have acted in self defence despite being significantly taller and heavier than the teenage victim.

When asked why he tried to grab the camera from Mr Siwela, Coe replied: 'Well obviously I didn't want to get caught init.'

Naeem Mian, for Coe, denied his client was a 'religious zealot' and said it was 'grotesque' that he was not allowed to put his past behind him.

Coe, of Greenwich, south east London, was convicted of one count each of assault occasioning actual bodily harm and battery.

He will be sentenced on September 21.

THE BODYGUARD RADICALISED BEHIND BARS Michael Coe, 35, has convictions dating back to November 1997, when he was 16. He found guilty of wounding after an attack on the estate where he grew up in Hackney, east London. Two years later, he was convicted of common assault and using threatening behaviour, but said he could not remember why. In 2001, at the age of 20, he was sent to a Young Offenders Institution for four years for robbery, although he claimed it was a case of mistaken identity and someone else was in the vehicle involved. A year later, he was convicted of violent disorder after an incident at Notting Hill Carnival, but claimed in court he was just 'walking through the crowd very fast'. In Leeds in 2006, aged 26, he was jailed for firing at police officers as he resisted arrest. He said he had been stabbed twice in prison – once in the back and once in the neck – and had hot oil poured over his back, arms and face, requiring skin grafts. Coe became a Muslim behind bars after meeting al-Qaeda terrorist Dhiren Barot, who was jailed for life for plotting to detonate limousines packed with gas canisters. Coe (left) at a protest in London against the Pakistani government He was met at the prison gates by Mohammed Mizanur Rahman, 33 - a key figure in banned terror group Al-Muhajiroun - who was convicted of drumming up support for Isis alongside Choudary last month. Coe was also pictured with Choudary at inflammatory protests calling for Britain to be ruled by Islamic Sharia law. He appeared in a Salafi Media video praising Osama Bin Laden and has since accepted in court having strong views about Islam and the West. In May 2013 he pleaded guilty to a religiously aggravated harassment which he was fined. Outlining this offence, Mr Polnay said: 'On that occasion an 18-year-old girl was with some friends finishing school when the defendant shouted and beckoned her over. When she reached him he became aggressive and said "why are you talking to them, it goes against your religion".' Coe stood trial at the Old Bailey last year accused of travelling to Syria to join Islamic State fighters after he was caught smuggling himself out of the country in the back of a lorry. Advertisement