How did the police let Taliban bomb maker get so close to Downing Street?

Jihadi left free for FIVE months after he was let back into UK

A JIHADIST came within yards of a knife rampage on Downing Street even though police knew that he was a prolific Taliban bomb-maker, it emerged yesterday.

Khalid Ali, 28, returned to Britain to launch a deadly attack on politicians and police after spending five years building at least 300 bombs to maim and kill soldiers.

Police swooped as the Saudi-born fanatic was just yards away from the gates of Downing Street with a rucksack of knives on April 27 last year.

Yesterday, as he was convicted of plotting a terror attack, there were questions about how he was able to waltz into Britain and why he was not stopped earlier.

It can now be revealed that police had known for five months that he was a bombmaker and had evidence to prosecute him for terror offences committed abroad.

After his capture, he told police he was a trained terrorist with a ‘message’ for MPs, before boasting that he could have carried out an attack in the first month he arrived back in Britain had he wanted to. The plumber from Edmonton, north London, had British citizenship having lived in London since the age of two.

But he had not been seen since 2011 when he was reported missing to police after telling his family he was off to do a two-week plumbing job in Birmingham.

Five years later, in October 2016, he walked into the British Consulate in Istanbul, Turkey, asking for a temporary travel document. He claimed to be a tourist who had lost his passport and his belongings.

His strange behaviour immediately aroused concerns and he was put on a register of suspicious travellers.

But when Ali landed in Britain three days later with no luggage, no passport and no explanation of what he had been doing for the past five years, he was let in and after telling border guards that he had been hiding in Pakistan to escape a girl he was under pressure to wed.

A criminal record check revealed he had received a caution in 2010 for possession of cocaine.

But it wasn’t until his DNA and fingerprints were shared with Britain’s allies weeks later that they were matched to FBI records for bomb parts found in Afghanistan.

Scotland Yard then launched an investigation and he was put under MI5 surveillance. But despite the

‘Jihad is what we do’

wealth of evidence, police decided not to arrest him. Meanwhile, Ali was allowed to carry on plotting.

The day before he planned to strike, his mother Fadumo Haji Adam, 66, rang police after finding knives in her son’s bedroom.

But local police treated the incident as domestic and failed to notify counter terrorism officers.

The next day, Ali purchased an eight-inch chef’s knife and two 3.5in paring knives from a Wilko store in West Ealing, which he hid in a rucksack. He boarded a busy tube carriage to Victoria, from where he walked to Whitehall, dumping his phone in the Thames on the way.

It is understood that MI5 were closely monitoring Ali, and had to scramble firearms officers as they realised that he could be armed and heading for Downing Street.

His trial at the Old Bailey heard that CCTV was used to zoom in on him as he walked, which helped armed officers to intercept him. When Ali was forced to the ground, he was asked: ‘Do you have anything on you that may hurt anyone?’ Grinning, Ali told officers: ‘You’ll find out.’

He then boasted: ‘Jihad is what we do. We are Mujahideen. And I am here to let you know the reason why I have come with the message, for you to make the right decisions, if not... UK is next on the list.’

Yesterday Ali showed no reaction as he was convicted of one count of preparation of terrorist acts and two of possessing explosive substances with intent. Judge Nicholas Hilliard QC remanded him in custody to be sentenced on July 12.

Last night, Met Deputy Assistant Commissioner Dean Haydon defended the decision not to arrest Ali. He said police had to follow ‘due legal process’ in getting permission to use the evidence.’

He added: ‘Police were managing any potential risk that he posed and he was arrested at the most appropriate time.’