KABIR Ahmed told his trial, the first of its kind in the UK, that leaflets he was distributing outside Jamia Mosque in Normantonand putting through letterboxes "carried quotes from religious texts and historical facts and were not threatening".
But a jury decided otherwise.
They felt that anyone picking up the leaflets – one of which pictured a mannequin hanging from a noose and asking if gay people should face the death penalty for their sexuality – was very much "threatening".
Now, the 30-year-old father from Normanton is preaching another kind of hatred – in Syria.
He told BBCs Panorama programme: "Everyone's got their name on the list (to become a suicide bomber) and everyone is asking the Emir (leader) to push their name up. Everyone wants to fight for the sake of Allah,"
His TV appearance, and subsequently published pieces in both the Derby Telegraph and Sunday Mirror, have attracted outright condemnation from his former Normanton community.
Ahmed's original trial, in January 2012, saw five people face charges of stirring up hatred on the grounds of sexual orientation.
All five denied the charge and a week later two were cleared, but Ahmed was not one of them and was sentenced to 15 months in prison.
On the first day of the trial, Derby Crown Court was told by the prosecution how the five accused had distributed a "threatening, offensive and frightening" leaflet in Derby.
The flyer was part of a protest mounted by a group of Muslim men against the annual Gay Pride parade in the city in August 2010.
The leaflet contained quotations from the Koran and a picture of a mannequin hanging from a noose with the words Death Penalty? boldly set out.
A gay man, who had this and another leaflet posted through his letterbox, told the jury at Derby Crown Court: "They made me feel terrorised in my own home."
Another homosexual man who received the flyers said he feared his home would be fire-bombed.
Ahmed, then 28 and living in Madeley Street, Normanton, told the court he had been married for two years and lived with his mother, wife and young daughter.
The court was told he went to Derby Moor School, then spent three years studying media studies at Wilmorton College.
He spent a further two years studying at the University of East London and was then employed at Normanton's Asian Advisory Service as a care link operator helping the elderly.
He told the court he studied different religions in his spare time.
During the trial, the court heard how Ahmed told police he felt homosexual people should be "shunned".
He said he also feared that a natural disaster "like a tsunami" would strike the country unless homosexuality wasn't "stopped".
After being arrested at his home, Ahmed was questioned by police about his involvement with the campaign.
Derby Crown Court heard that he had helped distribute the leaflet, among others, around Rose Hill Street, in Normanton.
When asked about his feelings on homosexuality by Detective Constable Martin Moore, he said: "We are living in a society and if we don't stop it something like a tsunami will happen here, something on that scale."
He denied designing the leaflets but, when asked about why he had taken action in this way, he said: "We are trying to stand and voice on these issues. I am part of this country – I was born here.
"You can think of it as a little vigilante thing."
Further evidence revealed how a memory stick, seized from Ahmed, contained two short films that seemingly linked homosexuality with paedophilia.
The jury was shown film clips, which also included footage of previous protests against the Gay Pride march in Derby.
The courtroom watched the films, which both started with the words "Anti-Gay Pride protest, 10 July, Derby city centre."
Words came across the screen: "Allah calls this a shameful act, homosexuals call it Gay Pride. Join us to confront this evil. Gay today, paedo tomorrow?"
On January 20, 2102, Ahmed, Ihjaz Ali and Razwan Javed were found guilty of stirring up hatred against homosexuals by distributing a threatening leaflet.
Ahmed and Javed were jailed for 15 months while Ali was sentenced to two years in prison.
Then, while serving his sentence, Ahmed was charged with a related, but lesser charge and was summoned to appear at Southern Derbyshire Magistrates' Court in June 2012.
He and three other men were charged with using threatening and abusive words or behaviour at Derby's Gay Pride march in August 2011.
The court heard that Ahmed was part of a group of around 30 protesters carrying placards with anti-homosexual comments on them.
As the parade passed, each defendant made homophobic comments such as "scum", "gays will go to hell" and "we hope you die of Aids".
Magistrates were shown CCTV footage of protesters gathering in St Peter's Street at its junction with St Peter's Churchyard on August 20, 2011.
Some held placards which carried slogans such as "Homosexuality = Freedom Gone Too Far", "Homosexuality = A Crime Against God" and "Islam is the Ultimate Truth".
Magistrates found Ahmed guilty and handed him a two-year conditional discharge, while the other men were cleared of the charges.
Ahmed also has a list of previous, but unrelated offence stretching back to 2005, when he was aged 22.
In June 2007, Ahmed, then 23, was given two community orders until May 2, 2008 and required to carry out 60 hours' unpaid work for wilfully obstructing a police constable in the execution of his duty on February 23 and for failing to surrender to custody while on bail on March 6.
He was given six points for driving a vehicle without a correct licence on February 23, 2007.
No separate penalties were imposed for using a vehicle without insurance and test certificate and using a vehicle in a dangerous condition on February 23.
He was also instructed to serve a community order until August 2, required to carry out 80 hours' unpaid work consecutively, disqualified from driving for 12 months and ordered to pay £43 costs for driving a vehicle dangerously on a public road on February 26, 2007.
No separate penalty was imposed for wilfully obstructing a police constable, using a vehicle without insurance and driving without a correct licence in February 2007.
In January 2005, Ahmed, then 22, was fined £540, ordered to pay a total of £43 costs and licence endorsed with six penalty points for using a vehicle without insurance on August 11, 2004.
