Convicted terrorist who plotted to blow up Stoke-on-Trent pub toilets up for parole

A convicted terrorist who plotted to blow up pub toilets in Stoke-on-Trent is among 92 people being considered for parole.

Nazam Hussain could be granted his freedom despite once being considered as dangerous as close friend Usman Khan who went on to murder two people on London Bridge.

The pair and their pal Mohammed Shahjahan were part of a self-contained radical cell preaching an extreme version of Islam on the streets of Tunstall and Cobridge.

While they never got to the stage of building bombs or selecting specific targets, they were recorded talking about blowing up pub toilets in Stoke-on-Trent and also discussed how they would raise funds for their terrorist training.

The trio – all British-born and of Pakistani origin – were also part of a terrorist network which also involved cells in London and Cardiff who were planning to attack the London Stock Exchange.

Bugs hidden in their cars and other covert recording techniques allowed MI5 to listen in on many of their conversations after the three cells met up in Cwn Carn Country Park in Newport, Wales, in 2010.

The three Stoke-on-Trent men were among nine men jailed two years later for terror offences.

They were released in 2018 but Hussain, now 35, was recalled to prison when anti-terror police swooped on his home days after former Haywood High School pupil Khan, originally from Tunstall, killed Jack Merritt and Saskia Jones before being shot dead in 2019.

Now it has been confirmed that Hussain, who previously lived in Grove Street, Cobridge, could be released on parole in 2022.

His hearing is currently set for February.

Source: Stoke Sentinel0