ISIS fanatic plotted to kill Theresa May

An Islamic State fanatic on trial for plotting to behead Theresa May also spoke of wanting to use hot air balloons to drop bombs from space, a court heard.

Naa’Imur Rahman is accused of planning to kill the Prime Minister in a suicide attack and another plan to use drones and a car bomb to attack MI5’s London HQ.

In court today, it emerged he had also discussed flying hot air balloons ‘into space’ to use as weapons, dropping missiles on victims.

The Old Bailey heard that he sent texts on messaging app Telegram saying: ‘If you send hot air balloons where planes can’t reach with brothers in them with missiles, God willing, you can drop them below.’

The 20-year-old’s messages were being sent to an undercover MI5 agent who he believed to be a prominent IS commander, the court heard.

He sent others, praising the Manchester and Parsons Green bombings and begging the MI5 spy – who he knew as Abu Anis – to let him join a sleeper cell with ‘10,000 brothers’.

In one text, he discussed using gas canisters and a lorry to drive at potential targets, jurors heard.

Ali Bajwa, defending Rahman, said: ‘One message says “there’s 10,000 brothers, I want to be in Europe I want join the battle, I want to bring them to their knees, I’m considering a suicide attack”.

‘He [Rahman] said “I wanted to attempt to kill Theresa May, there’s hundreds of gas canisters here we could drive them at a target”.

‘Then he says “I saw a story about a non-Muslim who flew a hot air balloon into space”.’

But Rahman told the court he did not plan to go through with any of the plans.

‘I knew it had been done before, but in reality I thought it was unlikely,’ he said.

‘I didn’t have the intention of actually going forward with it.’

The Bangladeshi-Brit revealed he had planned at least three separate attacks in the capital including one at the Israeli Embassy, the court heard.

Rahman claimed that his uncle, who had fled to fight in Raqqa, had discussed attacking MI5 headquarters, jurors were told at an earlier hearing.

They also earlier heard his ‘attempt to kill Theresa May’ and detonate a bomb outside Parliament which could ‘clear the entire block’.

Rahman, of Finchley, north London, denies two counts of preparing terrorist acts.

His co-accused Mohammed Imran is said to have conducted reconnaissance of Number 10 and had an ISIS terror manual on his Kindle.

Imran, of Sparkbrook, Birmingham, denies preparing terrorist acts and possessing a terrorist document on his Kindle.

Source: metro