Two university students have been convicted of plotting a terror attack on the streets of London.
The terror cell’s 22-year-old ringleader, Tarik Hassane, and 21-year-old Suhaib Majeed, were convicted Wednesday of conspiring to commit a terrorist murder in support of ISIS.
The foiled attack targeted the Shepherds Bush Police Station and the Parachute Regiment Territorial Army Center in White City, in west London.
“They were planning to target police or military personnel before escaping on a moped, but members of the public also could have been victims had their plans not been thwarted,” Commander Dean Haydon, head of the Metropolitan Police Counter Terrorism Command, said.
‘Enormous and spectacular attacks’
The convictions come on the heels of the deadly terror attacks on Brussels and an announcement from the UK’s top counter terror officer at the beginning of the month that the UK is preparing for “enormous and spectacular” potential attacks from ISIS.
The Counter Terrorism Command’s investigation showed that Hassane, a medical student, pledged allegiance to ISIS in July of 2014 and was determined to carry out a terrorist attack in the UK. It added Majeed had downloaded encrypted software to talk to extremist groups overseas.
Two other men, Nyall Hamlett, 25, and Nathan Cuffy, 26, pled guilty to firearms offenses but were found not guilty of conspiring to commit a terrorist murder. It is believed Hamlett acted as a go-between while Cuffy supplied firearms.
Majeed, Hamlet and Cuffy were arrested in September 2014 while Hassane was studying in Sudan. He was arrested a month later on his return to the UK.
Authorities said they seized five guns along with ammunition after they arrested the men. They also uncovered many graphic images of beheadings and material in support of ISIS.
A date for sentencing is yet to be set.
In December, a married couple were convicted of plotting a suicide bombing to coincide with the 10th anniversary of the London transportation system attacks. Authorities were alerted to their plans after they posted tweets asking which sites they should bomb.
