A judge has thrown out the case against a man accused of preparing terrorist acts after ruling he had no case to answer.Prosecutors had alleged that Mohammed Usman Saddique (aged 27) of Walthamstow, east London, England, kept jihadist books and CDs at his home and had contact with convicted members of a plot to blow up transatlantic jets. But the trial, which was being heard at Inner London Crown Court, was aborted yesterday after his defence put in a submission to have it dismissed.
The jury had earlier heard that Mr Saddique possessed extremist documents at his home. One CD found at the premises had a folder entitled "Anarchy" which itself contained a subfolder titled "bombs". Files on it carried instructions on how to make explosives, the court heard.
| The little sod was organized, at least. |
| That's little Saud to you ... |
It was also alleged during the trial that the accused man knew and associated with convicted conspirators of an attempted terrorist plot. Telephone records linked him to Abdulla Ahmed Ali and Tanvir Hussain, prosecutors said. Both men were convicted, alongside Assad Sarwar, in September last year of conspiracy to murder by the detonation of improvised explosive devices on board transatlantic passenger aircraft.
The cost of that lengthy trial and retrial ran into the tens of millions of pounds, legal sources estimated at the time. It also led to demands for an apology by Muslim convert Donald Stewart-Whyte, who was cleared by the jury of involvement in the plot.
Referring to the collapse of the case against Mr Sadddique, a spokeswoman for the Crown Prosecution Service said: "The judge felt it should go to trial. Having heard the prosecution case and the defence submission of no case to answer, the judge has decided that the case should not continue."