http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/3459841/Poppy-burning-hatemonger-Emdadur-Choudhury-runs-from-hero-Ben-McBean.html[Click link for video.]
POPPY burner Emdadur Choudhury fled his home - to dodge a showdown with war hero Ben McBean.
Sick Choudhury had bragged he would sneer at anyone who had served in Afghanistan and tell them to their faces they were "murderers and rapists".
So The Sun arranged for ex-Royal Marine Ben, 24, who lost an arm and a leg in Helmand, to confront him - and he completely bottled it.
Ben drove 250 miles from Plymouth for a pre-arranged meeting in East London with Choudhury, who was fined just £50 for torching a giant poppy during a two-minute silence on Armistice Day.
But only 25 minutes before the 4pm appointment in a park, benefits scrounger Choudhury claimed he could not make it.
He did not even have the nerve to phone and tell us, instead hiding behind a text.
We went to his grim council flat in Whitechapel to have a showdown on his doorstep - only to find he had vanished.
At 2pm he had been seen emptying bins but by the time we arrived his car had gone and we got no answer.
Dismissing the Islamic extremist as "all hot air and no bottle", Ben said: "I'd have held out my one good hand so he could shake it but he didn't want it.
"For him to mouth off to reporters is easy, to say those horrible things to my face is another. He wasn't brave enough to do it.
"If my old mates in Afghanistan exhibited the same level of cowardice they wouldn't last ten minutes."
Earlier this week Choudhury, 26, boasted he would meet "any soldier" to explain why he had no respect. He ranted that Our Boys were "not going out there with candy and flowers", and that the brave troops were killing and raping innocent people.
But Ben, described by Prince Harry as a "true hero" after they flew back on the same plane, said: "The reason he is allowed to speak like he does is freedom of speech, but that does not give him the right to be abusive and offensive.
"My old pals have been going mad at the poppy burning.
"Next time he starts spouting off, he should be prepared to back up his wild beliefs - not run off like a dog with its tail between its legs."