Life in jail for ISIS supporter who plotted to kill British leader

An ISIS supporter has been sentenced to life in jail with a minimum term of 30 years after planning to murder British Prime Minister Theresa May and bomb Downing Street.

Naa’imur Zakariyah Rahman, 21, was convicted at the Old Bailey in London of preparing acts of terrorism after obtaining fake explosives from an undercover officer in November last year.

Rahman was discovered by an FBI officer posing as an ISIS leader, who then brought Britain’s MI5 in.

“I want to do a suicide bomb on Parliament,” he said. “I want to attempt to kill Theresa May. There are lorries here with big gas tankers. If a brother can drive it next to parliament I will bomb.”

During Rahman’s trial, the jury heard he had been urged to carry out an attack by an uncle who travelled to Syria to fight for ISIS but was killed in a drone strike last June.

He came to the attention of police in August last year after he was arrested on suspicion of sending indecent images to underage girls, but never charged.

Police became concerned that Rahman held extremist views when they examined his mobile phone. The death of his uncle cemented his desire to attack Mrs May, kill armed security officers and bomb the prime minister’s London residence.

Two other uncles were jailed in August 2016 for funding terrorism. Rahman’s mother had moved with him from Birmingham to North London to escape the uncle’s influence.

He had also been referred to Channel, a de-radicalisation programme, but withdrew.

On November 18 last year, Rahman carried out reconnaissance for an attack around Whitehall. He told an undercover officer: “It will be very big if I’m successful. I can’t mess up. I can’t get martyrdom if I get caught.”

He talked of using a suicide belt, a drone, an improvised explosive device and poison, referred to as “P” or “curry mix”.

Two days later, he bought a rucksack and then met an undercover officer so it could be fitted with explosives, which were fake. He was arrested soon after he was told the bag and its dummy explosives were “good to go”.

At his trial, Rahman also admitted he helped his friend Mohammad Aqib Imran to join ISIS in Libya by recording a sponsorship video.

The court heard Rahman had spent much of the time sleeping in the back of a car while he plotted the murders.

Prosecutors claimed he had sought to portray himself as a liberal Muslim to divert attention away from his violent intentions.

Rahman’s plotting led to him becoming embroiled with the domestic intelligence services of Britain and the US