One of Britain's most dangerous terrorists, who plotted to blow up an army base with a toy car bomb, will be allowed to walk free after a parole board rejected a last-ditch bid to keep him in jail.
Zahid Iqbal will be released again after a reconsideration to keep him locked up was refused by Parole Board chiefs - despite two experts warning against doing so.
The move has sparked furious backlash from terrorist survivors and politicians alike after the People's Channel first sounded the alarm over the early release.
Now, GB News can reveal Iqbal is set to be allowed to roam the streets of Britain once again.
However, one expert has refused to deny that he was talking to other extremists on a phone - a device which he lied about using - when he was previously allowed to roam free.
Back in 2013, Iqbal, as part of a four-man gang, admitted to discussing a theoretical attack on the site.
During his sentencing, the 31-year-old, who was also one of the group's ringleaders, was sentenced to life in prison, with the judge imposing a custodial sentence of at least 11 years and three months, with a five-year extension period.
Iqbal, along with another gang member, discussed following instructions in an online Al-Qaeda manual "How to make a bomb in the kitchen of your mom - by the al-Qaeda chef".
Zahid Iqbal is set to be released from prison
|METROPOLITAN POLICE/PA
The pair were arrested after a series of raids were conducted at their homes across April in 2012 following a joint operation led by Police Counter Terrorism Command and security services.
Recordings of the men, heard in court, revealed Iqbal suggesting attaching the IED to a remote-controlled toy car and sending it off under an entrance gate at a TA centre.
When he was due to be released, Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp demanded that Deputy Prime Minister and Justice Secretary David Lammy intervene.
Mr Lammy subsequently urged the Parole Board to revise its “legally irrational” decision to release the 43-year-old three years early.
CRIME IN THE UK - READ THE LATEST:
Mr Lammy was called on to intervene
|PA
He formally issued an application to the board asking it to reconsider. Following its revision, the parole board bosses decided he should still be released.
Then, at the end of April while out on parole, Iqbal was recalled to prison over fears he posessed a Kubotan keychain, a self-defence weapon, and had been accused of owning conspiracy theory books, as well as another about the 9/11 attacks.
The allegation was not pursued due to a lack of evidence.
However, the board has ruled an error of law was made in the original decision to released. It has since requested the original panel to look again at key questions and provide more detail.
The board chair, Judge Michael Topoloski, said: "I have decided that the three grounds in support of the application for a reconsideration in this case cannot be sustained and are therefore refused.
"However, that does not bring this application to an end.
"I have after anxious consideration reached the conclusion that the Panel has fallen short of fulfilling their duty to provide sufficient evidence-based reasons for the decision taken to direct release.
"Therefore, the application for a reconsideration is granted only on the basis that there has been an error of law in that the Panel failed to fulfil its legal duty to give sufficient reasons for its decision. I do so solely for the reasons set out above.
"In my judgment it is appropriate that the case should be reconsidered on the papers by the original panel as per Rule 28(9)(a) The Parole Board Rules (as amended).
"I am in no doubt whatsoever that the panel will approach this matter conscientiously and fairly."