Man admits support for Hamas in social media posts

A 29-year-old man has admitted a series of antisemitic posts and supporting Hamas on social media.

Zakir Hussain had denied wrongdoing but changed his plea and admitted 11 charges against him on the first day of his Old Bailey trial on Monday.

The defendant, of no fixed address, pleaded guilty to four charges of expressing support for proscribed organisations Hamas and Hezbollah.

The offences related to posts on X, formerly Twitter, on dates between November 2023 and January 2024.

He admitted a further seven charges of stiring up racial hatred in comments about Jewish people on the same social media site.

In posts, Hussain hailed October 7 – the date in 2023 when more than a thousand people were killed in a Hamas-led attack on Israel – as a “beautiful day”.

In other comments, he wrote: “We are hunting them for fun in the UK,” and “I’m in London any Jews out there come out and stand up for your religion.”

Following his guilty pleas, Judge Anthony Leonard KC ordered a report and remanded Hussain in custody ahead of his sentencing until March 28.