Terror trial of ‘Three Musketeers’ accused of plotting pipe bomb and meat cleaver carnage is halted in wake of London attack
AN Old Bailey terror trial was halted today in the wake of the Westminster attack that left four people dead including a suspected Islamic extremist.
Twelve jurors and two spare pannellists - who yesterday heard prosecutors open the case against the four accused - were sent away until Tuesday.
Naweed Ali, 29, Khobaib Hussain, 24, Mohibur Rahman, 32, and Tahir Aziz, 38, are accused of plotting a terror attack using a pipe bomb and a meat cleaver with the word Kafir — meaning unbeliever — scratched into the blade.
Mr Justice Globe suspended the case after a maniac in a 4x4 mowed down 40 pedestrians on Westminster Bridge then knifed a policeman to death at the entrance to the Houses of Parliament.
Addressing the ten men and four women jurors, the judge said: "I am sure you appreciate that following the events of yesterday at Westminster I have had to give consideration to various things and a number of legal issues will have to be considered by the court in relation to the case.
"That, I am afraid, is going to cause some delay with the case and regrettably means you are not going to be able to continue at this moment with Mr Patterson's opening."
He said they should be ready to resume next Tuesday, adding: "You are still part of this jury in the meantime.";
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Yesterday prosecutor Gareth Patterson QC told jurors that Ali, Hussain and Rahman dubbed themselves the "Three Musketeers" on encrypted messaging app Telegram as they plotted a terror attack.
A multi-coloured JD Sport bag stuffed with weapons and ammunition was found when anti-terror police searched Ali's black Seat Leon last August, the court has heard.
The haul is said to have included a half-made pipe bomb, an air pistol imitation handgun with an empty magazine taped to the side of it, shotgun cartridges, a live 9mm bullet that could be fired in a semi-automatic pistol, a roll of gaffer tape and a pair of black latex gloves.
Aziz, who is from Stoke, was caught with a samurai sword when officers searched his blue Ford Fiesta on the same day, jurors were told.
Rahman also lived in Stoke and worked at a takeaway called the Mactas Peri Peri Grill, while Ali and Hussain lived next door to each other in the Sparkhill area of Birmingham.
The four defendants each deny preparing for acts of terrorism between 25 May and 27 August last year under Section 5 of the Terrorism Act 2006.
Part of the case will be heard in secret to avoid "sensitive" evidence from two anonymous witnesses being made public, jurors have been told.
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