IS fanatic targeted 100 in London terror attack
A MUSLIM convert plotted to kill about 100 people in a terror attack at a top tourist attraction in central London, a court heard yesterday.
Lewis Ludlow, 26, who swore allegiance to Islamic State, planned to drive a van at pedestrians.
Possible targets were shoppers and tourists outside the Disney Store on Oxford Street in the heart of the West End, St Paul’s cathedral or Madame Tussauds.
He bought a phone under a false name and wrote down his attack plans, which were later found ripped up in a bin.
He also researched van rental and hotel accommodation.
Oxford Street was identified as an “ideal” target.
He wrote in his notes: “It is expected nearly 100 could be killed in the attack.”
Ludlow, from Rochester, Kent, formulated his plan after being stopped by police at Heathrow airport in February as he attempted to board a flight to the Philippines.
Police pieced together the torn-up scraps of paper they recovered from Ludlow’s bin to reveal his plans. It was alleged he also set up a Facebook account called Antique Collections as a front to send money to South-east Asia for terrorism.
The defendant was due to face trial in the autumn on two charges of preparing acts of terrorism and one of terror funding.
But at a hearing before Judge Nicholas Hilliard at the Old Bailey, he pleaded guilty to plotting an attack in the UK and funding IS abroad.
Prosecutor Mark Heywood said it would not be in the public interest to pursue a trial on a charge of attempting to join IS in the Philippines which the defendant denied. That charge will lie on the court file.
Sentencing was adjourned until November 2.