A TAKEAWAY chef and father of six sought to spread the "extreme and intolerant" views of Islamic State while also planning to join the group himself, a court has heard.

Abul Kahar, 37, from Sunderland, is accused of trying to further the cause of the terrorist organisation, fund them and encourage others to take up arms with them.

He denies five counts of disseminating terrorist publications, including one called The Book Of Jihad.

He also denies one charge of preparation of terrorist acts, one of funding, collection of information and three counts of support for a proscribed organisation.

Anne Whyte QC told Newcastle Crown Court it was "a case of our time" and was a "very modern sort of crime".

She said the alleged offences had occurred between November 2013 and March 2015 and Kahar set about "using the internet to spread extreme and intolerant views to invite support for Islamic State".

This included posting online and chatting with contacts as he tried to encourage them to join IS.

"Mr Kahar led, to all outward appearances, a normal life. He lived in a terraced street in Sunderland with his wife and six children," she said.

"He had a business interest in one local restaurant and also worked as a chef in an Indian takeaway restaurant."

But following a search by police at his home in March 2015, officers seized amongst other things his iPhone and iPad and found a large amount of material relating to the terrorist group, the court was told.

Describing him as "a prolific user of Facebook" with five different identities as well as other communication applications, Ms Whyte said he had "set his profile photo as a fighter in black kneeling before his sword".

And she told the jury: "It was not the conduct of a modern Muslim agonising over the interpretation of his faith.

"It was the conduct of a modern Muslim seeking out assistance and guidance about getting to the front line with IS."

The court heard he would tell those he was chatting to "support ISIS, support me otherwise you are not a true Muslim" and "if you think Isis is terrorist then you've become a moderate coconut Muslim".

One of the documents he had on his phone was called "Hijrah to the Islamic State, what to pack up, who to contact, where to go, stories and more," the jury was told.

And an IS publication he distributed stated: "If you can kill a disbelieving American or European ... then kill him in any manner", the court heard.

Ms Whyte told the jury that he complained about his wife not supporting his wishes to travel to Syria.

She said during his conversations he contemplated taking his children with him and leaving his wife, saying "if I didn't have the kids with her I would've killed her".