Two men have been given life sentences for planning an Islamic State-inspired gun attack on a mass gathering of Jews in the Manchester area.
Walid Saadaoui, 38, and Amar Hussein, 52, aimed to cause “untold harm” but their plot was thwarted as they unknowingly laid bare their scheme to an undercover operative (UCO).
Saadaoui was told by a judge at Preston Crown Court on Friday that he must serve a minimum of 37 years in custody while Hussein will serve at least 26 years.
Saadaoui, of Abram, Wigan, and Hussein, of no fixed address, were convicted by a jury in December of preparing acts of terrorism between December 2023 and May 2024.
Sentencing, Mr Justice Wall told the defendants that if the plot had succeeded, it would “likely have been one of the deadliest terror attacks ever carried out on British soil”.
He said: “I am sure this would have led to the deaths of many people and serious injuries to many, many more.
“Your plan envisaged you and two others discharging AK-47s into a large crowd of marchers, who were unarmed and defenceless.
“One-hundred-and-twenty bullets could have been discharged before any reloads were required. You planned to have spare magazines available.
“Your attack would have led to the deaths of people of all ages, including children.”
Main instigator Saadaoui aimed to smuggle four AK-47 assault rifles, two handguns and 900 rounds of ammunition into the UK in what police chiefs said could have been Britain’s deadliest terrorist incident.
Months earlier the father-of-two, originally from Tunisia, paid a deposit for the weapons and believed he had arranged for their importation with a like-minded extremist but who in fact was the UCO, referred to in court as Farouk.
Saadaoui told Farouk he could independently obtain a firearm via Sweden and indicated he was looking to bring guns from eastern Europe. Separately he had bought an air weapon and had visited a shooting range.
Counter-terrorism police intervened on May 8 2024, with more than 200 officers involved, as Saadaoui was arrested at a hotel car park in Bolton when he went to collect some of the firearms, which had been deactivated.
No specific attack target site or date was identified but prosecutors said the defendants planned to launch a gun assault on an antisemitism march by the end of summer 2024 and then head to north Manchester to kill more Jews.
Mr Justice Wall commended the bravery of UCO Farouk.
He told the court: “His is a dangerous and difficult job. He undertook it with great skill and patience.
“He has potentially saved many lives by putting his own life on the line.
“I am not allowed to know his true identity, but I hope the remarks I make are passed on to him.”
Saadaoui hero-worshipped Islamic State (IS) terrorist Abdelhamid Abaaoud who orchestrated the 2015 Paris terror attacks in which 130 people were killed and hundreds more injured in gun attacks across the city.
He came to the attention of the authorities when he used 10 Facebook accounts, none of which were in his own name, to spread a torrent of Islamic extremist views, as Farouk was deployed to gain his trust online and later in person.
Saadaoui recruited fellow IS sympathiser Hussein, a Kuwaiti national, who worked and lived at a furniture shop in Bolton, Greater Manchester, to assist his plans.
The pair travelled to Dover, Kent, in March 2024 to conduct hostile reconnaissance on how a weapon could be smuggled through the port without detection.
On his return, Saadaoui travelled to Prestwich and Higher Broughton in north Manchester where he carried out similar surveillance on Jewish nurseries, schools, synagogues and shops.
A safe house was also secured in Bolton for the storage of the weapons as both men returned to Dover two months later where they believed they were watching the firearms coming into the country.
Saadaoui’s brother Bilel, 37, of Hindley, Wigan was found guilty of failing to disclose information about the terror plan.
He was sentenced to six years in jail with an extended licence period of 12 months.
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