An asylum seeker who set fire to the Koran while shouting anti-Islamic slurs has been warned by police that he is the target of an 'imminent' terror plot to murder him, it emerged today.
Hamit Coskun, 50, was woken by officers at 2am on Saturday and told his life was in danger, according to his lawyers.
The officers, acting on behalf of the Metropolitan Police, are understood to have issued what is known as an Osman warning – a formal alert given when there is intelligence of a real threat to life but not enough evidence to make an arrest.
Coskun, who is originally from Turkey and is now in hiding in the UK, was convicted last week for a racially aggravated public order offence after he burned a copy of the Islamic holy book during a protest in Knightsbridge on February 13.
During the incident – which was filmed and went viral online – he shouted: 'F*** Islam' and 'Islam is religion of terrorism' as he held the Koran above his head and set it alight.
