01/05/2013

EDL Bomb Plotters Plead Guilty

Six men from the West Midlands have pleaded guilty to planning an attack on an English Defence League (EDK) rally using guns, knives and an explosive device made from a firework.

Omar Khan, Zohaib Ahmed, Mohammed Hasseen, Mohammed Saud, Anzal Hussain, and Jewel Uddin, all in their 20s, will be sentenced on 6 and 7 June.

Five of the men, four from Birmingham and one from Smethwick, admitted travelling with weapons to Dewsbury last June, where an EDL demonstration was being held.

The sixth man, also from Birmingham, did not travel but has admitted engaging in conduct in preparation for acts of terrorism.

The attack was not carried out because the rally finished early due to a lack of public speakers for the EDL, which is a far-right group that protests against what it calls "Islamic extremism".

Police say the attack could have resulted in multiple casualties and deaths.

Hasseen, the defendant who who did not travel to the rally, pleaded guilty to possessing documents likely to be of use to a person preparing or committing an act of terrorism. This related to a document detailing how to make a pipe bomb.

Assistant Chief Constable Marcus Beale from West Midlands Police said: "We acted quickly to identify, locate and detain all these dangerous men as soon as possible.

"A lot of people would have been at risk of very serious injury or even loss of life had the attack been carried out."

Police uncovered the bomb plot when they were driving on the M1 and a police officer pulled them over to check on the condition of their car.

The car appeared to have no insurance, so it was immediately seized and loaded onto a recovery vehicle.

(IT/CD)

Related UK National News Stories
Click here for the latest headlines.

10 June 2013
EDL Rally Bomb Plotters Jailed
Each of the six men, who admitted terrorism offences in connection with a plot to bomb an English Defence League rally, have been jailed for up to 19-and-a-half years. Omar Khan, Jewel Uddin, Mohammed Hasseen, Mohammed Saud, Zohaib Ahmed and Anzal Hussain pleaded guilty in April to a plot to attack an EDL rally in West Yorkshire.
07 May 2014
'Skull Cracker' In Custody In London
Kent Police, in partnership with officers from the Metropolitan Police Service, have arrested two men in East London on suspicion of conspiracy to commit armed robbery. On 3 May, Kent Police began a search for Michael Wheatley, 55, who had failed to return to HMP Standford Hill after being released on temporary licence.
06 April 2005
BNP leader charged with racial hatred offences
Nick Griffin, the leader of the British National Party (BNP), has been charged with four racial hatred offences, police have confirmed.
07 April 2014
Police Search For Three Men Following Hammer Attack
Birmingham police are looking for three men after an elderly woman was hit with a hammer in an attempted robbery in her Sparkbrook home. The three men broke into a flat above a business premises on Ladypool Road at around 6.30pm on Friday 7 February, where the 66-year-old woman was attacked.
26 November 2012
British Man Stabbed To Death In South Africa
A British man has been killed during a robbery at his farm in South Africa, local police have confirmed. Christopher Preece, 54, originally from Southgate, north London, is believed to have bled to death after three armed men attacked him with machetes.