Four jailed over plot to bomb army base using toy car

Zahid Iqbal, 31, and Mohammed Sharfaraz Ahmed, 25, discussed sending a remote-controlled toy car carrying a home-made bomb under the gates of a Territorial Army centre, London’s Woolwich Crown Court heard.

Mr Justice Wilkie QC said the pair posed “a significant risk of serious harm to the public” as he gave them both extended prison sentences of 16 years and three months, of which they must serve at least 11 years and three months.

Umar Arshad, 24, was jailed for six years and nine months and Syed Farhan Hussain, 22, for five years and three months.

The men, all from Luton, had considered methods, materials and targets for a terrorist attack, the court heard.

Iqbal and Ahmed spoke about making an explosive using an al- Qaida instruction manual entitled Make a Bomb in the Kitchen of Your Mom.

Covert recordings caught Iqbal suggesting attaching it to a toy car and sending it under the gate of the TA centre in their home town.

Ahmed travelled to Pakistan for military training and was spied making trips to mountainous regions like Snowdonia in preparation.

Lawyers for Ahmed and Iqbal claimed the conversation about the proposed TA base attack was a “one-off” that went no further.

Arshad provided cash and Sim cards for Ahmed’s trip to Pakistan and advised him on a cover story. He and Hussain also downloaded editions of the banned al-Qaida online magazine Inspire.

Hussian also spoke to Ahmed about sourcing a firearm, which he never obtained.