They said the mosque was "committed to building co-operation and harmony between all communities in this borough." Gay rights group Stonewall said: "This incident is yet another reminder of the homophobic abuse that gay people face all too often." The arrested patrollers were members of The Shariah Project. The organisation's co-founder, Abu Rumaysah, told the press the arrested men would be welcomed back despite their convictions at the Central Criminal Court. An East London Mosque official, speaking of the patrols, identified The Shariah Project as "strongly linked" to Anjem Choudary's group Al-Muhajiroun. Several media reports have since identified the Sharia patrols as part of a network of followers of Anjem Choudary. Choudary himself has condoned the Sharia patrols, has spoken in public before several supporters known to take part in these patrols, including at meetings held early in 2014, and praised as "commendable" the actions of the convicted members of the Sharia patrol. The Central Criminal Court heard evidence concerning incidents involving the patrol which took place in Shoreditch, Bethnal Green, and outside the East London Mosque where videos were made of members of the patrol harassing members of the public at night when the mosque was closed. The patrol targeted a heterosexual couple in Bethnal Green for holding hands, shouting at them to stop because they were in "a Muslim area." Just weeks later, the patrol picked on five friends who were drinking in the street because it was "Allah's land"; 19-year-old Islamic convert Jordan Horner threatened to stab the men, while one of the patrol members shouted "kill the non-believers". Three of the patrol members were convicted in November, and were sentenced on 6 December 2013. Jordan Horner, who uses the Islamic name Jamaal Uddin, pleaded guilty to two charges of assault and two charges of using threatening words and behaviour, and was sentenced to 68 weeks imprisonment. Thirty-six-year-old Ricardo MacFarlane who pleaded not guilty, was sentenced to one year for affray and two years for using threatening words and behaviour. 23-year-old Royal Barnes, who was awaiting further trial regarding offensive videos about Lee Rigby and therefore could not be named at the time, pleaded guilty and received a six-month sentence for affray. In February 2014 Horner, McFarlane and Barnes were given anti-social behaviour orders barring them from the activities that led to their conviction and from associating with Choudary.