Central Terrorism

Three men were sentenced today, after being found guilty of a terror plot to detonate up to eight suicide bombs in the UK.

Irfan Naseer was handed a life sentence and must serve at least 18 years before he can be considered for parole when he appeared at Woolwich Crown Court.

Together with Naseer, the cell was led by his "inseparable" friend Irfan Khalid, 28, and Ashik Ali, also 28. Khalid boasted that the attack was "another 9/11".

Sentencing him to an extended term of 23 years in prison and to serve 12 years before he can be released on licence, Mr Justice Henriques said he took into account that he had been found to be in the bottom 2%-5% in terms of cognitive ability.

Partially-sighted Ali, wearing a white robe, was handed an extended sentence of 20 years in prison and will serve a minimum of 10 years before he can be considered for parole.

The judge said he did not accept the defendant's portrayal of himself as the group's "tea boy or runner for others".

Naseer was found guilty of five counts of engaging in conduct in preparation of terrorist acts, Khalid of four, and Ali of three, all between Christmas Day 2010 and September 19 2011.

Read more: Juliet Bremner on the trio who hoped to cause worst atrocity on British soil

Mr Justice Henriques has described Irfan Naseer as a 'skillful bomb-maker' and says 'clearly nothing was going to stop you, short of intervention of the authorities.'

Irfan Naseer's terrorist plot 'had the blessing of al Qaida as he intended to further their aims' the judge has said.

Irfan Naseer has been told he must take sole responsibility for 'sending four young men to Pakistan for terrorism training' by Mr Justice Henriques at London's Woolwich Crown Court.

A total of eleven men from Birmingham are being sentenced today over a terror plot which could have been more devastating than the July 7 attacks.

Irfan Naseer, Irfan Khalid and Ashik Ali were found guilty of a total of twelve terrorism charges last month.

Four other men were convicted of terrorism offences.

A further four men pleaded guilty after travelling to Pakistan for terrorism training.

The Birmingham ringleader of a terror plot which it is thought could have been bigger than the July 7 attacks has been sentenced to life in prison.

31 year-old Irfan Naseer, who appeared at Woolwich Crown Court, will serve a minimum of 18 years in prison before he can be considered for parole.

A total of eleven men from Birmingham are being sentenced today over the plot.

Irfan Naseer, Irfan Khalid and Ashik Ali were found guilty of a total of twelve terrorism charges last month.

Four other men were convicted of terrorism offences.

A further four men pleaded guilty after travelling to Pakistan for terrorism training.

Police say the terror plot involving two men from Birmingham who've today pleaded guilty, was the biggest the UK mainland has ever seen.

Bahader Ali and Mohammed Rizwan were part of an eleven-strong gang of would-be terrorists who planned to set off rucksack bombs in crowded places.

They're the final two men to be convicted of planning to carry out mass murder on a bigger scale than the 7th July 2005 attacks in London.

Click here to find out how the plotters planned to maim and kill.

**

**

Two members of a gang who planned atrocities bigger than 7/7 have admitted terrorist offences.

Mohammed Rizwan, 34, and Bahader Ali, 19, both from Sparkbrook in Birmingham, pleaded guilty to engaging in conduct in preparation of acts of terrorism at Woolwich Crown Court today, police said.

Police believe it was the most significant terror plot to be uncovered since the 2006 conspiracy to blow up transatlantic airliners using bombs disguised as soft drinks.

A 16-year-old boy has admitted to possessing explosive substances and a host of literature, including a book on how to make the explosive Semtex – a homemade C4 bomb.

The boy, who also admitted to owning prohibited images of children, purchased explosive substances – namely sulphur powder and potassium nitrate.

He also admitted possession of numerous books and manuals, of a kind likely to be useful to a person committing or preparing an act of terrorism.

Material included various terrorism handbooks, military manuals and bomb-making anarchistic literature and diagrams.

A 16-year-old boy arrested in Northamptonshire last year has admitted possessing explosive chemicals and bomb-making books and diagrams.

The teenager, who cannot be named for legal reasons, pleaded guilty to two terror charges and another offence at a hearing at Birmingham Magistrates' Court.