Toy car bomb plot gang jailed for 44 years
FOUR terrorists who plotted to attack a Territorial Army base with a bomb inside a remote-controlled toy car were jailed for a total of 44 years yesterday.
The Al Qaeda-inspired jihadists discussed sending the car through the gap under the main gate and detonating it under a military vehicle.
The plot was hatched after the men, from Luton, Beds, followed plans from notorious Al Qaeda magazine Inspire – which the Boston Marathon bombers may have used.
Potential targets included the MI5 headquarters in London and a crowded shopping centre, London’s Woolwich Crown Court heard. One of the gang helped organise training trips to Pakistan. The men also went on military-style training sessions in Snowdonia and the Brecon Beacons.
Ringleaders Zahid Iqbal, 31, and Mohammed Ahmed, 25, discussed their terror plots unaware their cars had been bugged by police.
All four admitted planning to commit acts of terrorism. Iqbal and Ahmed were jailed for 16 years and three months each. Umar Arshad 24, was sentenced to six years and nine months and Syed Hussain, 22 was jailed for five years and three months.