Bomb-plotter gets life sentence

Asupporter of the Islamic State, who plotted to bomb St Paul’s Cathedral at Easter, has been sentenced to life in prison.

Safiyya Amira Shaikh, 37, from Hayes, west London, admitted preparing terrorist acts and disseminating terrorist publications that encouraged others to launch similar attacks.

She had been under police and MI5 surveillance.

During the sentencing yesterday, Shaikh sat in the dock with her head bowed, but as she was sent down she gave an Isis salute to journalists present in the courtroom.

Shaikh will have to serve a minimum term of 14 years before being considered for release by the parole board.

The court heard that Sheikh had discussed online, with co-conspirators who she later discovered were undercover officers, plans to target a nearby hotel in the City of London and her desire to blow herself up afterwards on the underground.

Although in mitigation it was argued that she had got “cold feet” about going through with the plot because she did not want to disappoint the co-conspirators, that position was undermined by a phone call she made from prison that was intercepted.

The transcript of the call was read out in court.

During the call she told a friend she had wanted to “go through with it” and had only been delayed because she was “doing drugs”.

Earlier, her defence counsel, Ben Newton, said: “This particular terrorist act would never have actually happened. Three people were involved in this plot, and the other two were undercover police officers.”

Delivering sentence, the judge, judge Sweeney, acknowledged that Shaikh had suffered from mental health issues, but said: “There are a number of aggravating factors – communication with known extremists, deliberate use of encrypted communications, use of multiple social media platforms, significant volumes of terrorist publications published and attempting to disguise your identity.”