ISIS follower jailed for terror plot to drive van into London shoppers

A man has been jailed for at least 15 years for a terrorist plot to drive a van into shoppers outside a Disney store on Oxford Street in London.

Lewis Ludlow, 27, a Muslim convert who pledged allegiance to Islamic State, hoped to kill 100 people in a “spectacular” attack targeting London’s main shopping district or Madame Tussauds, one of the capital’s most popular tourist attractions.

Last year, the former Royal Mail worker, who called himself “the Eagle” and “the Ghost”, pleaded guilty at the Old Bailey in central London to plotting an attack in the UK and funding Isis abroad.

On Wednesday, Judge Nicholas Hilliard QC jailed Ludlow for life, ordering him to serve a minimum term of 15 years. He said Ludlow had been engaged in preparations for a “spectacular” multi-casualty attack “with the intention of causing death or terror”.

The judge said: “Your commitment at the time … to violent extremism ran very deep and for some time. There could be no other explanation for your preparing to kill innocent people in a vehicle attack for ideological reasons.”

On torn-up scraps of paper recovered from Ludlow‘s bin before his arrest, he detailed other potential attack sites, including St Paul’s Cathedral and a “Shia temple in Romford”, east London.

Talking about Oxford Street and the lack of barriers, he wrote: “Wolf should either use a ram attack or use … on the truck to maximise death … it is a busy street it is ideal for an attack. It is expected nearly 100 could be killed in the attack.”

In April last year, a mobile phone was dredged from a storm drain at Ludlow’s home in Rochester, Kent. It contained reconnaissance photos from a trip to London in March and an oath of allegiance to Isis.

Ludlow had set up a Facebook page called Antique Collections as a cover to send money to an Isis supporter in the Philippines known as Abu Yaqeen. Ludlow attempted to fly there in February last year but was stopped at the airport and had his passport seized, having long been on the radar of the authorities.

The Prevent programme had attempted to engage with Ludlow since November 2008, when his college had raised concerns about his religious beliefs and his habit of carrying a knife. He came to the attention of police in 2010 when he attended a demonstration led by the radical preacher Anjem Choudary and his banned al-Muhajiroun group.

After his guilty plea, Ludlow, who has autism, told how he rejected an MI5 advance in March 2017 but agreed to engage with the Prevent programme.

He said he became “bitter” and “heartbroken” when he was barred from going to the Philippines last year and that Yaqeen talked him into plotting an attack in Britain, overcoming his initial reluctance.

But Hilliard was sceptical of his claims, telling Ludlow: “I do not regard you as suggestible or easily taken advantage of. You were well able to resist the Prevent programme.”

He sentenced him to seven years to run concurrently for funding Isis abroad.

Source: The Guardian