What Do Prisoners Think of Anjem Choudary Going to Jail?

(Names and identifying details have been changed to protect privacy)

At the end of July, notorious hate preacher Anjem Choudary was tried and convicted of supporting Islamic State. A qualified solicitor, Choudary managed to evade the law for the best part of two decades. Ultimately, it required evidence of Choudary swearing an oath of allegiance to ISIS to seal the prosecution's case against him. On Tuesday, he was sentenced to five-and-a-half years in prison.

I teach at a prison. Unsurprisingly, the news that Choudary will be facing some serious jail time was a highly charged topic of discussion at a recent lesson.

Jack, 26, is back in prison for simultaneously breaking his curfew, his restraining order against his ex-partner and for being in possession of Class A drugs, all within 24 hours of his release on license. He'll serve the remaining months of his sentence for assault inside. Jack is instantly riled when Choudary's name comes up.

"Stick him on a plane and send him back home, the rat," Jack says. I explain that Choudary was born in Britain. "Well he obviously hates it here, innit. I don't give a fuck, get him on a plane, get him back to Syria or wherever. Then bomb the fuck out of him and his mates. Booooom!"

When Jack eventually accepts that deporting and then bombing Choudary isn't an option, I ask how he would react if he saw Choudary on his wing landing? "He'd be going for a flight down from the fours all the way down to the ones. Splat, have that you prick." This is clearly bravado, but it's evident that Jack is massively wound up by Choudary, and Islam in general. "I don't know fuck all about Islam, and I don't want to either. Bomb them all."

Gavin, 37, has a few days left of his four-week sentence for unpaid council fines. This is his third time in prison, though the last sentence was seven years ago for his involvement in a 20-person brawl outside a Wetherspoons.

"Problem with putting him in prison is that he'll be talking to people, chatting all that shit. He might be banged up for time, but he'll be indoctrinating lads who'll be out in months. That's scary." I ask Gavin whether he thinks the average prisoner would give Choudary the time of day, let alone listen to his rhetoric? "He'll target the young lads, the ones on the meds, the ones who haven't got mates in here. Praying on the vulnerable, happens here all the time."

It's because of exactly this concern that the government announced, days after Choudary's conviction, that isolated "prisons within prisons" are being created to stop extremists radicalising others.

I'm interested to know whether Gavin thinks Choudary could be rehabilitated while in prison? "Well it worked with me last time… anything's worth a try, but don't count on it."

After hitting a blank with Jack, I ask Gavin whether he's had much interaction with any of the Muslim guys on his wing. "Yeah, standard. No problem with them at all. Couldn't share a cell because of all the praying, but most of those boys are fine. You never have to worry about them nicking from your cell, any dirty stuff like that." Has he asked them about Choudary? "Nah, gave that one a swerve. I try an avoid any deep stuff in here, you never know who you're talking to at the end of the day."

Cain, 19, is waiting to go on trial for possession of heroin with the intent to supply. After recognising his surname, I realise that I've previously taught Cain's dad and several other members of his family. "They've proper stitched me up on this, haven't heard a fucking thing from any of them in weeks," Cain says.

I ask Cain whether he was aware of Choudary prior to the news of his conviction. "Yeah, man. My boy in the army used to peck my head about him, proper long, made me watch all the YouTubes of him. He [Choudary] made me laugh to be honest, he's proper on one."

The group briefly segues into a broader chat about extremism. I ask Cain if he can see the appeal in holding extreme beliefs. "If you haven't got any shit happening in your own life then, yeah. I reckon it's dog-eat-dog on road. I'm not bothered what people think as long as it doesn't fuck with how I want to live."

Can Cain see any alternatives to imprisoning Choudary? "What I'd do is put him in Celebrity Big Brother. That Bear would pure ruin him."

Mike, 36, is waiting to hear whether or not he will be granted a release on license before his partner gives birth to their fourth child. He is optimistic, but based on past experience it seems unlikely to me that he will be out in time. Mike is pretty vocal, and throughout the discussion has so far taken probably the most aggressive tone towards Choudary.

"Normal rules shouldn't apply to him. I'm not one for bringing back the death penalty, apart from the worst paedos, but people like him are dangers to society and shouldn't ever be allowed out, so why not just kill him?" What about solitary confinement? "And how much will that cost the taxpayer? It's a fucking piss-take, I thought things like this would be different after Brexit but we've still got all this human rights shit protecting absolute scum like him."

At this point, it's difficult to stop Mike talking. I think about asking how he would feel sharing a cell with Choudary but decide against it, there's only half an hour left of the session and I don't think that's enough time for Mike. "Everything that's wrong in the world, it comes back to wannabe Hitlers like Choudary," he says, his cheeks deep red, globules of saliva building up around the corners of his mouth.

I bring the discussion to a close and we decide to chill out and play a game of hangman on the whiteboard; the sense of bemusement in the group is tangible as Mike continues uninterrupted with his monologue, now back on Brexit and the evils of human rights. It occurs to me that Mike and Choudary might actually make decent cellmates.

More times we asked prisoners what they think about stuff:

What Do Prisoners Think of the Super Rich Dodging Tax?

What Do Serving Prisoners Think About the 'Brexit'?

What Do Serving Prisoners Think About the UK Having the Most Prisoners in the EU?