Edwin Muhammad, who was jailed for 15 years in 1999 on false charges of being an imam, has defended his right to remain quiet – but the ruling will probably have little impact on other British Muslims, and will likely cause even more outrage in Britain.

“If that comes back to haunt me, it will. It means that the law protects him and that nobody is going to silence him.”

Image copyright Getty Images Image caption The BBC’s Jonathan Head was recently threatened after his own Islamophobic tweets were used as evidence in a court case

As the case continues, the government will also have to ensure it has laws in place to deal with hate crimes.

Last year Mr Cameron pledged that the police would “deal appropriately and fairly with the perpetrators of these types of attacks”.

But he also warned, “Islamophobic and racist abuse of any kind makes life harder for everybody in modern Britain.”

Mr Muhammad was jailed for 15 years in 1999 after being found guilty of being a “commie pimp” for recruiting women in the Manchester area for drugs and prostitution.

In a televised appeal for witnesses he said: “You will be killed if you speak out.”

But a judge later ruled there was insufficient evidence that Mr Muhammad had taken part in racial hatred offences.

‘Violent, abusive and threatening’ messages

In March, police released a police file on Mr Muhammad which included a series of tweets which contained violent, abusive and threatening messages on Mr Muhammad’s account.

They were sent within the last two weeks of the murder of the young female friend in 2013.

They were made in the name of the Islamic State group.

Mr Mohammed, who was imprisoned between 2009 and 2013, told the BBC he did not wish to respond to the latest tweets.

“To me and my family, this will be the biggest news, the greatest shock and the greatest worry,” he said.

“I’ve kept quiet all along.

Image copyright EPA Image caption Many people in London have expressed anger over the latest ruling

Mr Muhammad’s lawyer, Shazad Butt, welcomed the judge’s decision not to impose a longer prison sentence.

“All I think is in the interests of justice. One of the key things is that all the evidence was not used to convict him – he was convicted of a crime – that’s it,” Mr Butt said.

But