Article

2017-07-04 Britain

Teen who plotted to bomb Elton John concert on 9/11 anniversary sentenced to life

[ITV] A teenager who plotted to bomb an Elton John concert on the anniversary of the 9/11 attacks has been jailed for life.

Haroon Syed tried to acquire weapons online, including a bomb vest and a machine gun.

The 19-year-old identified the Hyde Park event as a possible target and was caught by the British Security Service who posed as a fellow extremist who could help him source the weapons .

Key evidence was gathered from Syed's communications with the fake contact Abu Yusuf via mobile phone and social media.

The Old Bailey heard the trigger for his radicalisation was the arrest of his older brother for plotting a so-called Islamic State-inspired Poppy Day attack.

The teenager from Hounslow, west London, had admitted preparation of terrorist acts between April and September last year.

Mitigating, Mark Summers QC said it was a "crude, ill-thought-out" plan made at the behest of others.

The court heard Syed had fallen under the influence of members of the banned group Al-Muhajiroun (ALM), which is linked to jailed preacher Anjem Choudary.

Despite the risk around the time of his brother's arrest, Syed, slipped through the net of the Prevent anti-radicalisation team although his passport was seized in 2015.

Home Office approved de-radicalisation expert and Bradford imam Alyas Karmani told the court there should have been earlier intervention in his case.

Mr Summers added that Syed now publicly rejected his past beliefs and condemned the recent bomb attack at the Ariana Grande pop concert in Manchester.

But Judge Michael Topolski QC said the risk Syed posed warranted a discretionary life sentence and ordered him to serve a minimum of 16 and a half years.

Judge Michael Topolski QC said Syed "remained intent" on carrying out an act of mass murder.

"You were not lured, you were not enticed, you were not entrapped.

"You became, and in my judgement as shown by your online activities away from your contact with Abu Yusuf, deeply committed to the ideology of a brutal and barbaric organisation that sought to hijack and corrupt an ancient and venerable religion for its own purposes and you wanted to be part of it," he added.

Posted by Bright Pebbles 2017-07-04 00:00|| || Front Page|| [11134 views ] Top
File under: Al-Muhajiroun (Britain)

#1 "...sought to hijack and corrupt an ancient and venerable religion..."

When are authorities going to stop providing cover for that abominable ideology? They don't seek to "hijack" Islam--they seek to *enforce* it. The *literal* reading of their holy texts instructs them to do these things.

Posted by Crusader 2017-07-04 01:46|| 2017-07-04 01:46|| Front Page Top

#2 Mitigating, Mark Summers QC said it was a "crude, ill-thought-out" plan made at the behest of others

"Really, yer Honor, he's an idiot"

Posted by Frank G 2017-07-04 09:05|| 2017-07-04 09:05|| Front Page Top

#3 I thought maybe this teen just didn't like Elton John music, but as I read on Haroon Syed most likely doesn't like any music.

Posted by JohnQC 2017-07-04 10:48|| 2017-07-04 10:48|| Front Page Top

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