Couple guilty of London bomb plot

A would-be bomber and his wife were found guilty of plotting a massive terror attack on London.

London - A would-be bomber and his wife were found guilty on Tuesday of plotting a massive terror attack on London to coincide with the 10th anniversary of the atrocities committed in the capital on 7 July 2005.

Mohammed Rehman, a 25-year-old Islamist extremist who used the online nickname Silent Bomber, took to social media in May to ask for suggestions on which target to choose: a Westfield shopping centre or the Tube network.

With money from his wife, Sana Ahmed Khan, 24, he stockpiled chemicals to make a bomb at his home in Reading and filmed himself setting off a small blast in his garden.

Following their trial at the Old Bailey, the couple were found guilty of preparing an act of terrorism. Rehman was also convicted of possessing an article for terrorist purposes.

After the verdicts, Susan Hemming, the head of the Crown Prosecution Service's counter-terrorism division, said: “There is little doubt that, had Rehman and Ahmed Khan not been stopped when they were, they would have attempted to carry out an act of terrorism in London.”

Police swooped to arrest Rehman and Khan on 28 May - just over a month before the anniversary of the 7/7 attacks which killed 52 Londoners. Rehman fled to a convenience store and was stopped by armed police. He insisted there was nothing dangerous in his house, despite having posted on Twitter that he had “a surprise waiting for them”. He also claimed to have rigged up a bomb that could be triggered at the touch of a button at his bedside, saying: “Nobody gets in the way of my jihad.”

Officers found a hunting knife and more than 10kg of highly explosive urea nitrate, which, if detonated in a public place, would have caused multiple fatalities, jurors heard.

Tony Badenoch, QC, for the prosecution, said the pair shared a “common interest” in violent and extreme ideology and repeatedly researched the 7/7 bombers. Khan, who studied at Greenwich University in south-east London, had known Rehman for 10 years. She kept their Islamic marriage a secret from her family, who did not approve of Rehman, a drug-taking divorcee. They lived separately with their families.

Mr Badenoch told jurors that Rehman frequently had violent rows with his family, causing his fearful father to spend time away and even sleep rough to avoid him.

The couple's sentencing hearing will begin on Wednesday.

The Independent