‘Three Musketeers’ face jail over Rigby-style terror plot
MEMBERS of a terrorist cell who dubbed themselves the “Three Musketeers” are facing years behind bars for plotting a Lee Rigby-style attack after a partly secret trial plagued by accusations of police corruption.
Two members of the gang, from the West Midlands, sought out infamous Islamic State supporter Anjem Choudary before they prepared to strike police and military targets on British soil, it can now be reported.
They were arrested in August last year after MI5 went to bug the car of Naweed Ali, only to uncover a pipe bomb and meat cleaver hidden in a JD Sports bag.
Convicted terrorists Ali, 29, Khobaib Hussain, 25, and Mohibur Rahman, 33, denied preparing an attack and claimed the incriminating evidence was planted by undercover police officer Vincent, the boss of a fake firm called Hero Couriers.
The officer, who gave evidence anonymously, also reported seeing Hussain with a similar JD Sports bag in the days before the stash was uncovered.
Vincent was cross-examined over 12 days and repeatedly rejected the allegations against him.
Jurors agreed with him and, after deliberating for more than 22 hours, unanimously convicted the men of preparing terrorist acts, along with fourth defendant Tahir Aziz, 38.
Mr Justice Globe remanded them in custody until sentencing today.
Following the guilty verdicts, Detective Chief Superintendent Matt Ward, head of West Midlands Counter Terrorism Unit, said: “Today’s case was about four very dangerous extremists who were plotting to carry out a terror attack in the UK.
He described the accusations against his team as “groundless”.
The Old Bailey trial had heard that Ali, Hussain and Rahman called themselves the Three Musketeers in an encrypted chat on the Telegram messaging app.
The gang was led by former law degree student turned trainee gas fitter Hussain, from Birmingham, and included his friend and next-door neighbour Ali and committed jihadist Rahman, who they met behind bars. Ali and Hussain were jailed for joining a terrorist training camp in Pakistan while Rahman was in prison for possessing an al Qaida propaganda magazine which contained bomb-making instructions.
Rahman, of High Lane, Stoke, had connections with other extremists, including Choudary, who he is believed to have visited with Aziz while the radical preacher was on bail awaiting trial for supporting IS.
Primark salesman Aziz was keen not to be “left behind” but was only brought into the Three Musketeers plot days before the arrests, the prosecution alleged.
The four-month trial was held partly in secret in the interests of national security as two anonymous witnesses gave evidence behind closed doors. The trial was disrupted over fears that jurors might be unfairly influenced as the country was rocked by four terror attacks in Westminster, Manchester, London Bridge, and Finsbury Park.