Oxford Street terror plotter was known risk for 10 years
He’d planned to mow down shoppers and tourists despite taking part in Prevent scheme
AN ISLAMIC State recruit plotted a deadly attack in Oxford Street despite the authorities spending ten years trying to deradicalise him, a court heard yesterday.
Officials made repeated efforts to guide Lewis Ludlow away from the malign influence of hate preachers.
But the former Royal Mail worker planned to bring carnage to shoppers with a vehicle attack on a Disney store in Oxford Street.
Police found notes on his planned attack, in which he hoped to kill up to 100 people, ripped up in a bin in his home. He wrote: ‘Long road with no bollards or barriers preventing a van mounting the pavement.’
He also targeted other tourist attractions such as Madame Tussauds and St Paul’s Cathedral and was arrested after taking reconnaissance photos.
Ludlow, 26, from Rochester, Kent, has previously admitted preparing acts of terrorism and raising illicit funds.
He appeared at the Old Bailey yesterday for a sentencing hearing that is expected to last three days. The court heard Ludlow, from Rochester, Kent, was able to plot terror despite repeatedly coming to the attention of the authorities.
The Muslim convert was caught on camera attending anti-Western rallies organised by Anjem Choudary, the hate preacher jailed for supporting IS.
Attempts at deradicalisation included three different courses and 17 meetings with officials from the Government’s Prevent anti- extremism programme, although he also refused to make contact on a number of occasions.
Mark Heywood, for the prosecution, outlined how teachers, police and council officials attempted to divert Ludlow from terrorism.
His first encounter with a Prevent officer dated back to November 2008 when his sixth-form college raised concerns about his religious views. This was followed by a visit from police after he was found carrying knife. A local mosque was assigned to undertake ‘community mentoring’.
By May 2009 police were taking advice from counter-terrorist colleagues and in July 2010 he faced formal action but refused to meet an imam sent to mentor him.
The following month the Home Office tried to introduce a mentor but, despite several attempts, Ludlow still failed to attend meetings. Later that year an intelligence report was filed showing how he was ‘supporting extremist propaganda’ yet his Prevent file was closed due to ‘lack of consent’. In 2012 he was referred to the programme again but Ludlow ignored calls to arrange meetings and was discharged the next year.
However, in July 2015 police discovered he was in contact with Junaid Hussain, a British IS fighter in Syria.
In 2017, a third attempt to engage him was made by the Home Office but he referred officials to his lawyer, who said Ludlow wanted no further contact.
By 2018, the authorities had him under surveillance, with an undercover officer exchanging messages with him online while posing as a fellow extremist.
He was served with a travel ban and held at Heathrow in February last year after attempting to board a flight to the Philippines. He has admitted sending money to the country for terrorism.
A mobile phone bought in the name of his brother and containing IS material was found in a storm drain near Ludlow’s home
Police discovered a video message in which Ludlow pledged his allegiance to IS. Describing himself as an ‘eagle’, he said: ‘I have nothing for this country of Britain. I spit on your citizenship, your passport, you can go to hell with that. So be ready, for we too are waiting.’
The hearing continues.