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UK man found guilty of plotting to kill PM May

This article is more than 12 months old

LONDON: A British man was found guilty on Wednesday of a plot to kill Prime Minister Theresa May by first detonating an explosive device to get into her Downing Street office and then using a knife or a gun to attack her.

Naa'imur Rahman, 20, of north London, was convicted at the Old Bailey court of preparing to commit acts of terrorism.

Rahman had planned to detonate an improvised explosive device at the gates of Downing Street and gain access to Mrs May's office in the chaos and kill her, according to police.

No. 10 Downing Street is the official residence and office of British prime ministers. It is heavily guarded and there is a gate at the end of the street where the public gather to see the house.

"We are talking about an individual that would have killed, injured and maimed a number of people including police officers and members of the public," said Commander Dean Haydon, head of the Metropolitan Police's Counter-Terrorism Command.

Britain suffered four deadly attacks last year and the head of the domestic spy agency MI5 said in May that another 12 plots had been foiled since the first one in March last year.

The Downing Street plot was foiled when Rahman believed he was corresponding online with members of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syriawhile planning the attack, but was in fact talking to undercover officers from the US Federal Bureau of Investigation and Britain's MI5.

Washington Post reported that he made contact with an FBI agent impersonating an ISIS official on social media last year.

"I wanna drop a bag at the gate, so the gate blows up a bit and I can go through and then like, make a run, like I was thinking taking a human hostage until I get to the actual door," Rahman told the undercover police officer, in a tape played in court.

He gave the undercover officer his backpack and jacket to make into weapons. At the end of November, the agent returned Rahman's backpack and jacket with fake explosives.

Rahman was detained as he walked away from the scene and later said: "I'm glad it's over."

He was described by police as a drifter who lived on friends' sofas. - REUTERS

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