Terrorist rants in dock as jail term rises

A TERRORIST who plotted a bomb or ricin attack ranted in the dock after a judge increased his jail term to at least 21 years following a sentencing “error”.

Sudanese asylum seeker Munir Mohammed had pledged to carry out a “lone wolf ” mission in a Facebook chat with an Islamic State commander. As part of his preparations he sought out pharmacist Rowaida El-Hassan through the SingleMuslim.com dating website and used her know-how to assemble ingredients for a bomb.

When he was arrested in December 2016, Mohammed had two of the three components for TATP explosives as well as manuals on how to make bombs and ricin poison.

Last Thursday, Mohammed, 37, of Leopold Street, Derby, and mother-of-two El-Hassan, 33, of Willesden Lane, London, were jailed for preparing terrorist acts between November 2015 and December 2016.

Judge Michael Topolski QC had sentenced Mohammed to life with a minimum of 14 years and handed El-Hassan a 12 year sentence plus five years on extended licence. The case returned to the Old Bailey on Wednesday under the “slip rule” to correct the sentence for Mohammed.

Raising the minimum term to 21 years, Judge Topolski apologised for making an error.

The judge said it was “appropriate” to correct the minimum term, taking into account all the circumstances of the case and the “impact” on the defendant.

Mohammed angrily ranted for some minutes before the judge called a halt to the hearing.