Failed asylum seeker jailed for life after trying to break into London’s Israeli embassy to launch knife attack

Albadri appeared emotionless in the dock as the sentence was read out.

The court previously heard Albadri was refused asylum after he twice entered the UK in small boats in August 2021 and April 2025.

Albadri, who was born into the stateless Arabian Bedoon tribe, had told the court he had been jailed and mistreated for campaigning for human rights in Kuwait.

On April 28 last year, Albadri was captured on CCTV walking for an hour from Kilburn in north-west London to the Israeli embassy.

Just before 6pm, he arrived outside the embassy and made a gesture like a salute before he jumped onto the 8ft-high metal fence.

He attempted to get over the fence and into the grounds, with the two knives concealed in his pocket.

Within seconds, two armed diplomatic protection officers reached up and grabbed him, pulling him to the ground.

Pc Libby Chessor previously told jurors it had been “challenging” pulling Albadri off the fence because he had been holding on “quite strongly”.

She said: “The way he was walking towards the embassy, the things he was saying, how quickly he jumped up, I believed it was his intent to get over that railing.”

Albadri was pinned down by officers and handcuffed before being searched and taken to a police station.

He told the officers he had “got my weapons”, the court heard.

Two red-handled 4in long knives with serrated blades were then seized along with a “martyrdom note”.

Albadri then told the officers: “You know it’s just a message, yeah.

“They need to stop this f***ing war on children.

“We need to live in harmony because the children who live there, it’s all the same.

“We are living in the same Earth, it’s not a faraway place.”

The Kuwaiti national had denied preparing to commit an act of terrorism, saying he attended the embassy for a “peaceful protest”.

He had further said the knives were intended for “personal use” as he was homeless.

The court was told Albadri searched “Jihad”, a chapter of the Koran and the location of the Israeli embassy on his phone in the days before the attempted attack.

Prosecutor Catherine Pattison told the court that evidence showed there were people leaving the embassy at the time of the incident.

She said they “would not have had any chance to defend themselves” had Albadri tried to attack them.

She added Albadri “intended to do something that would have resulted in the sacrifice of his life”.

Mitigating, defence barrister Chris Henley KC said Albadri’s plan “could never ever have succeeded”, adding “there was no serious risk of any harm to anybody”.

He said Albadri dressed in an “absurd, performative fashion” which was “deliberately designed to draw attention to himself”.

Mr Henley added Albadri had spent the morning “trying to get help” to access housing.

Commander Helen Flanagan, head of Counter Terrorism Policing (CTP) London, said: “Albadri’s attempt to carry out a terrorist attack at the embassy was thwarted due to the courageous and swift actions of officers on duty, who prevented him from breaching the security perimeter.

“The significant prison sentence he has received reflects the danger he posed on the day and the lack of remorse he has shown since he was arrested.”

She added: “Sadly, the embassy has faced various security alerts in recent times.

“However, CTP works closely with the embassy and our colleagues in the Met to continuously review and strengthen protective security plans to ensure the site and the wider community is kept as safe as possible.”