A Muslim leader has condemned the beliefs of two men convicted for harassing people on the streets while attempting to impose Sharia law.

Ricardo MacFarlane, 36, of Boyden House in Walthamstow, Jordan Horner, 29, of Radbourne Crescent in Walthamstow, and a 23-year-old man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, were members of the so-called Muslim Patrol.

They admitted confronting people on the street and harassing them if they were perceived to be acting in a non-Islamic way.

During one incident the group shouted “Kill the non-believers” at a group of men drinking beer in the street, before Horner attacked them.

A leading member of the Waltham Forest Islamic Association (WFIA) said the pair’s views were outdated and opposed by the vast majority of Muslims.

Executive committee member, Asghar Ali, said: “We do not support their extreme views.

“In my personal opinion they are narrow-minded and they need to grow up.

“Sharia law was used 1,400 years ago to deal with problems of that day and age.

"Life is a million times different to what it was then and these people haven’t grown out of it.”

The jailed pair were members of The Shariah Project, which was behind the patrols on the streets of Waltham Forest.

And despite the conviction, co-founder Abu Rumaysah said the men would be welcomed back into the fold.

He said: “I’m not condemning them outright, but I can’t promote the manner in which it was done.

“The best I can say is that there’s a better way of doing things. I’m not going to condemn them."

Mr Rumaysah acknowledged that the judicial system he espouses includes whipping gamblers, cutting off the hands of thieves and executing homosexuals.

Horner and MacFarlane, who Mr Rumaysah calls by their Muslim names Jamal Uddin and Abdul Hakeem, are due to be sentenced on December 6.