Attack George at school, UK jihadi ‘urged fanatics’
A terror suspect urged fanatics to attack Prince George at his school warning ‘ the royal Family won’t be left alone’, a court heard yesterday.
Husnain rashid, 31, allegedly posted the address of the prince’s school on a secret social media channel for Muslim extremists.
Alongside the address was a chilling image of the four-yearold standing by the black silhouette of a jihadi fighter captioned: ‘School starts early.’
Westminster magistrates were told rashid identified the third in line to the throne as a target on an encrypted messaging service just weeks after he joined the £18,000-a-year prep school in Battersea, south-west London.
the menacing post was one of a series of messages on the telegram app identifying high-profile targets and locations across the UK, it was said.
rashid is also accused of calling for attacks on sports stadiums and instructing followers to target Jewish communities.
He is charged with preparing to help others to commit acts of terrorism by setting up the secret channel offering tips to would-be terrorists. the court heard that rashid planned to travel to areas of Syria controlled by Islamic State to join the fighting.
rebecca Mundy, prosecuting, said of his telegram posts: ‘these activities provided practical assistance.
‘there is a post which has used a photograph of the young Prince George at the beginning of the school term which is next to a silhouette of what can only be described as a jihadi fighter that says “School starts early”.
‘He has provided an address in Battersea and the text states: “even the royal Family won’t be left alone”.’
Yesterday the bearded defendant appeared in court to face a charge of preparing acts of terrorism and another count of preparing to assist others to commit acts of terrorism.
rashid, who appeared in the dock wearing a grey tracksuit and glasses, spoke only to confirm his name and address. His lawyer indicated he would be pleading not guilty to the charges.
the chief magistrate, emma Arbuthnot, remanded him in custody to appear at the old Bailey on December 20.
neighbours expressed shock following his arrest at a terraced property in the quiet former mill town of nelson on november 22 by officers from Lancashire Police and counter-terrorism policing.
one woman, who did not wish to be named, said: ‘I am shocked that there has been an arrest here because it’s so quiet. I have not seen or heard anything sus- picious myself.’ Assistant chief constable tim Jacques of Lancashire Police said: ‘I recognise that events like this can cause people to worry and impact on wider public confidence.
‘People may see extra police activity in the area over the next few days and I would ask them to co- operate with us as we carry out the work that we need to do. We appreciate your patience and understanding.’
the case follows concerns about the safety of the prince following a series of unrelated security alerts earlier this year.
Four days before George started at thomas’s prep school, a woman filmed herself walking through the corridors unchallenged, calling the lack of security ‘astonishing’.
then in September, a woman was arrested at the school after trying to get into the premises twice within 24 hours.
the prep school is working with the Met’s So14 royalty and diplomatic protection command in relation to all security issues.
‘Using encrypted messages’