Jihadi gang members who plotted to blow up army base freed from prison
The trio were labelled “particularly dangerous” by a judge
PA
Members of a Jihadi terror group who plotted to blow up a territorial army base have been freed from prison.
Umar Arshad, Syed Farhan Hussain and Mohammed Sharfaraz Ahmed, all British-born, plotted an attack on Luton’s army base, to be orchestrated between 2011 and 2012.
The trio, labelled “particularly dangerous” by a judge, received sentences between five years and 16 years and three months.
After admitting to discussing a possible attack on their hometown’s base, they were all jailed in 2013.
Zahid Iqbal will finish his prison sentence early next year
PA
All three were back on the streets as free men by November 2022.
Their final accomplice, Zahid Iqbal, will finish his prison sentence early next year.
Iqbal, the second leader of the Jihadi gang, received a sentence of 16 years and three months.
All four were arrested in 2012.
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The court was told that they arranged the terrorism training whilst in Pakistan. The group debated how to obtain weapons and raise money for their plan.
Their conversations were secretly recorded by MI5.
In 2013, the four men admitted to one count of engaging in conduct in preparation for acts of terrorism between January 1, 2011 and April 15, 2012.
Iqbal and Ahmed, the masterminds of the operation, posed a continued risk to the public, the hearing heard.
Judge Wilkie QC said: “In each of their cases, their persistent commitment to terrorist activity, in a number of different ways, over a significant period of time and, in each case, their willingness to take practical steps to obtain terrorist training abroad, marks them out as particularly dangerous.
The four men were arrested in 2012
PA
“This, coupled with the fact that, after their houses had been searched, and they were obviously under serious suspicion, they nonetheless continued to access material consistent with the mindset which informed their previous preparatory activities, persuades me that they continue to be 'dangerous' to such a degree that I should exercise my discretion to pass an extended sentence.”
The judge said that whilst the Jihadi members would be eligible for release after serving two-thirds of their sentence, the Parole Board would have the power to keep them in jail for the whole term of 11 years.
The court heard the secretly recorded conversations. In one, Iqbal can be heard telling Ahmed: “I was looking and drove past like the TA centre, Marsh Road. At the bottom of their gate there's quite a big gap. If you had a little toy car it drives underneath one of their vehicles or something.”
Another recording reveals how the men planned to make a homemade bomb.
Whilst the tapes were played aloud, the four men giggled and smiled.
Deputy Assistant Commissioner Stuart Osborne of the Metropolitan Police's Counter Terrorism Command said: “The actions and intentions of these men starkly demonstrate what we have repeatedly said - that terrorists live among us while they carry out their plans, doing all they can to conceal their activities.”
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