A GANG OF FOUR East Londoners who wanted to inspire an “army of children” to carry out a terror attack in the UK were convicted of a range of terror-related offences at the Old Bailey on Friday, 2nd March.
The conviction came after an investigation conducted by the Metropolitan Police Counter Terror Command found that Umar Ahmed Haque, 25 and from Newham, had begun planning a terror attack on up to 30 businesses and other targets in London. Part of the planning was finding and radicalising a bad of 55 children, who he had hoped would carry out a wide ranging attack on several targets.
Haque was being assisted by two other men. Abuthaher Mamun, 29 and from Barking, helped Haque with the planning and also tried to raise money to fund the attack. Haque took Muhamad Abid, 27 and also from Newham, into his confidence: although Abid knew what Haque was planning, he made to attempt to stop him or to alert the authorities. The three were arrested on 17th May last year.
Commander Dean Haydon, Head of the Met Police Counter Terrorism Command, said, “Haque was a dangerous man who was inspired by attacks in Europe and Westminster. He wanted to orchestrate numerous attacks at once, using guns, knives, bombs and large cars to kill innocent people. We recovered a number of exercise books from his home and it was evident from his notes that his plan was a long-term one. He intended to execute his plan years later, by which time he anticipated he would have trained and acquired an army of soldiers, including children.”
Haque was first apprehended by police in April 2016 at Heathrow airport, as he attempted to fly to Istanbul in Turkey. The Counter Terrorism Command found that he had been searching for terror attacks and executions on his phone. The searches were not sufficient for the police to charge him, but the Home Office did revoke his passport.
A year later, counter terrorism officers were able to collect enough evidence to arrest and charge Haque with offences relating to planning terror attacks in the UK.
After Haque was arrested, the police and social services investigated the steps he had taken to radicalise children. Haque was an administrator at an after-school madrasa in Ripple Road, Barking. In March 2017, Haque had a five hour phone conversation with Abid, during which he said that he had radicalised 16 children.
Further work by the police and social services concluded that Haque had targeted a total of 55 children aged 11 to 14 while working at the Ripple Road Mosque.
Commenting on this aspect of the inquiry, Commander Haydon said, “When specially trained officers interviewed the children, they described being shown by Haque horrific videos of extreme terrorist violence including executions. They told police how Haque made them role-play terrorists and police officers, with the children acting as terrorists being made to stab the ‘police officers’ to death.
“The children were paralysed by fear of Haque, who they understood to have connections to terrorists and who essentially told them that a violent fate would befall them if they told anyone what he was doing. They were too afraid to confide in anyone.
“It’s crucial that the police, partners and communities do all they can to identify where young and vulnerable people are being radicalised and I urge anyone with concerns that this is happening to report it confidentially to police.”
The 55 children whom Haque abused in this way have all been supported in overcoming the experience, with 35 of them having entered a long term support programme.
The police found that Abid had taken no action to stop Haque abusing these children or making plans for the large scale series of attacks. Abid listened as Haque told him his theories of why mass murder was justified and how the public should be “annihilated”, as well as sharing details of how the attacks would be organised.
Mamum listened to Haque’s planning in a similar way – but contributed ideas to working out parts of them. Mamun also tried to invest money online in order to try to raise funds for the attacks.
Haque had met Abid and Mamun at a local Mosque, but Nadeem Patel, 26 and from Newham, was Haque’s neighbour. Patel was arrested on the same day as the other three – and police found a Walther P99 handgun and £20,000 in cash in his home.
Charges and convictions at the hearing on 2nd March
•Haque was found guilty of two counts of preparation of terrorist acts and one count of collection of information useful to terrorism. He had already pleaded guilty to one count of dissemination of terrorist publications and three counts of collection of information useful to terrorism. He was found not guilty of one count of conspiracy to possess a firearm. The jury was hung in respect of one count of dissemination of terrorist publications and the judge ordered that this charge lie on file.
•Mamun was found guilty of one count of preparation of terrorist acts.
•Abid was found guilty of one count of having information about acts of terrorism.
•Patel was found not guilty of one count of conspiracy to possess a firearm. He previously pleaded guilty to possession of a prohibited weapon, for which he was sentenced to 16 months’ imprisonment at this hearing.
Abid, Mamun and Haque are scheduled to be sentenced at the Old Bailey later this month, on a date to be confirmed.
•Anyone who has concerns that children are being radicalised can report these concerns confidentially on 0800-789 321 or online via: www.gov.uk/act
•Read more about this story: Four East Londoners on terror charges
•Read more crime stories: East London man jailed for terror offences Stepney terror convict gets six years
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