Smethwick extremist jailed for 18 years over terror plot
An Islamic extremist from Smethwick, who was part of a gang that plotted a bloody attack on an English Defence League rally, has today been jailed for more than 18 years.
Mohammed Saud, aged 23, of Cambridge Road, was among a group of six men jailed at the Old Bailey over the failed plot last year.
Jewel Uddin, 27, Omar Mohammed Khan, 31, Mohammed Hasseen, 24, Anzal Hussain, 25 and Zohaib Ahmed, 22, admitted planning the attack at a hearing on April 30.
All of the men except Hasseen travelled to Dewsbury, West Yorkshire, where an EDL rally was taking place on June 30.
They had an arsenal of weapons including two shotguns, swords, knives, a nail bomb containing 458 pieces of shrapnel, and a partially-assembled pipe bomb.
West Midlands Police footage taken from the traffic officer car following the stop of the Laguna. Seen are Omar Khan and Jewel Uddin (white cap). Also police helicopter shots of the Dewsbury rally.
The nail bomb was an 18-inch rocket stuffed with shrapnel and was to be powered by explosives taken from at least two large fireworks.
The gang's plan only failed because the event finished earlier than expected - they arrived at around 4pm when it was over shortly after 2pm.
During the sentencing hearing today, Judge Nicholas Hilliard QC told the men: " How was it that you became involved in a crime of this gravity? At least part of the answer to that question must come in the tide of apparently freely available extremist material in which most of you had immersed yourselves."
Khan, Uddin and Ahmed were jailed for 19-and-a-half years with an extended licence period of five years, and the other three were given jail terms of 18 years and nine months and an extended licence period of five years.
Six West Midlands extremists admit planning attack on EDL rally
Our horror at terrorist living on the doorstep
Last week members of the English Defence League gathered near the Old Bailey as the sentencing process began.
Leader Tommy Robinson and his deputy Kevin Carroll watched parts of the hearings on Thursday and Friday from the public gallery of Court 12.
Prosecutors said that had the plot succeeded it could have sparked a 'tit-for-tat spiral of violence and terror'.
Bobbie Cheema QC told the court: "The defendants have admitted what is obvious from the evidence gathered during the careful police investigation: that they intended to bring about a violent confrontation with the EDL during which they intended to use weapons to cause serious injuries and they anticipated, each one of them, that some victims may have died."
Assistant chief constable Marcus Beale on today's terror sentencings.
