IF YOU CHOOSE TO LIVE IN THIS COUNTRY...

Though I am not sure which country it is legal to chuck diesel through strangers letterboxes and attempt arson... Yup. Mr Beheshti, or Abu Jihad and his pals have been sentenced to four and a half years. I like what the judge says

Sentencing Ali Beheshti, 41, and two accomplices to four and a half years, Mrs Justice Rafferty told them: 'If you choose to live in this country, you live by its rules.'

'There is no such thing as "a la carte citizenship" and, in your case, there is no such thing as "a la carte obedience" to the law.'

I don't remember Beheshti ever claiming there was anything called A la Carte citizenship. I thought it was all about Shariah law. He never spoke French to me anyway.

Andrew Hall, QC, said in mitigation for Beheshti that the arson attack was “an act of protest born of the publication of a book felt by him and other Muslims to be disrespectful, provocative and offensive.

“He wishes me to say now, publicly, that he considers his conduct to have been misguided, disproportionate and counter-productive,” he added.

The Jewel of Medina has yet to be published in Britain.

As I have said before, he was always one of the friendliest people I met in Finsbury. The moral of the story? Just because someone has kind, sparkling eyes and is really friendly it doesn't mean that they aren't going to lob diesel through someones letterbox and set alight to it one day in the future. Very sobbering.

Times, Daily Mail, Guardian, The Book Seller, BBC, Telegraph