Mr SaifuAllah, 23, told the Herald that he “100 per cent” supported the views and actions of Islamic State.

He said he changed his name three years ago but was born as William Ringo Ratapu-Howard in South Auckland, where he still lives. He said the Government had confiscated his passport last year, stopped him travelling to Sydney in May where he planned to marry his Lebanese fiancée and that he had repeatedly been questioned by the SIS about his beliefs. Mr SaifuAllah said he converted to Islam about three years ago to escape his life of drugs and crime. “I was in Black Power. I couldn’t see my life going anywhere, I was having a bad life, I was a gang member.”

His older brother found the religion first, and introduced it to their mother and then him, he said.

Alarming Facebook photos: Aucklander holds machine gun, poses with Isis flag and declares ‘holy war’