The man who set off pressure cooker bombs in New York and New Jersey in 2016 has been sentenced to life.

Ahmad Khan Rahimi injured 30 people when he set off a bomb in Manhattan.

The Afghan-born US citizen, who was captured after a shootout with police, told the court that he does not “harbour hate for anyone”.

According to federal prosecutors, the 30-year-old has not shown remorse and has attempted to radicalise others in prison to support Islamic State.

They said that Rahimi had tried to influence his fellow inmates with terrorist propaganda, including speeches from deceased al-Qaeda leaders Anwar al-Awlaki and Osama bin Laden.

Rahimi, known to many as the “Chelsea bomber”, was convicted in 2017 October on all eight counts brought against him in court, including the use of a weapon of mass destruction and bombing a public place.

The sentence of multiple life terms means Rahimi is likely to never leave jail.

Rahimi had pledged silence at his trial in a letter to an “associate” in Germany, prosecutors said, but he did not follow through with this.

“Their hands are already drenched with Muslim Blood and how will they understand our struggle,” Rahimi wrote, according to prosecutors.

His father, who reported him to the FBI two years ago, called him a terrorist in an interview with NBC.