Terror plotter told to read the Koran in jail to learn peace
A TERRORIST plotter who hoped to kill Theresa May should spend his 30 years in prison “studying the Koran”, the judge jailing him said yesterday.
Naa’imur Zakariyah Rahman, 21, planned to bomb the gates of Downing Street, kill guards and then attack the Prime Minister with a knife or gun.
The drifter, originally from Birmingham, who was arrested last November, thought he was being helped by an Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (Isil) handler when he collected what he thought was an explosives-packed Puffa jacket and rucksack.
In fact, he was talking to undercover counter-terrorism officers from the Metropolitan Police, the FBI and MI5.
Rahman, from Finchley, north London, was found guilty of preparing acts of terrorism despite claiming a set-up.
He admitted helping a friend to join Isil in Libya by recording an Isil sponsorship video.
Following his conviction, he told a probation officer that he would have carried out the attack if he had been able to.
Mr Justice Haddon-cave, sentencing him yesterday at the Old Bailey, told him: “Let me say the same to you as I have said to other similar offenders. You will have plenty of time to study the Koran in prison in the years to come. You should understand that the Koran is a book of peace; Islam is a religion of peace.”
He also concluded: “Rahman is a very dangerous individual and it is difficult to predict when, if ever, he will become deradicalised and no longer be a danger to society.” The judge sentenced Rahman to life in prison with a minimum term of 30 years.
The judge stressed the undercover officers involved in the case were “scrupulous” at all times and Rahman was the “instigator and author” of his own actions.
The court heard Rahman made contact with an FBI agent posing as an Isil official online, who introduced him to an MI5 role-player.
The defendant revealed his plans, saying: “I want to do a suicide bomb on Parliament. I want to attempt to kill Theresa May.”
On Nov 18 last year, he carried out reconnaissance around Whitehall and two days later, he bought a rucksack from Argos before meeting an undercover officer in Brixton for it to be fitted with explosives.
Ten days later, the officer handed back Rahman’s rucksack and coat, now packed with dummy explosive devices and replica pepper spray.
He was arrested as he walked away carrying the fake bomb in Kensington, west London.