London Bridge Terror Attack: Six Convicted Terrorists Are Back On The Streets

Six terrorist plotters who were imprisoned along with London Bridge terrorist Usman Khan, in the year 2012, are back on the streets. The news came to light recently, which leaves out only two out of the nine jihadists—one is still in prison, while another terrorist is facing a conviction for a further terror plot. Khan was shot dead by the police on Friday after going on a rampage which led to two being killed and three were injured.

At the trial in 2012, Woolwich Crown Court witnessed how the nine jihadists had strategized an al-Qaeda-style attack to explode a bomb at the London Stock Exchange. The investigation also unraveled a hand-written target list at one of the plotters' homes, which mentioned full addresses of the Dean of St Paul's Cathedral, Boris Johnson who was then-Mayor of London, two rabbis, and the US Embassy in London. It was learned that the group shared close links to radical preacher Anjem Choudary.

What needs to be noted is that three out of the nine— Khan, Mohammad Shahjahan, and Nazam Hussein had received infinite prison terms initially, which were revoked after the jihadists won an appeal in the year 2013. This changed their tenure to fixed sentences.

It has been learned that the reason behind the allowance of their appeal could be attributed to “being wrongly characterized” as more dangerous as compared to their counterparts.

Mohammed Moksudur Choudhury is the only terrorist from the pack to remain behind bars as four others have been released, whilst another plotter Mohibur Rahman was jailed in the year 2017 for plotting a “Lee-Rigby style” attack again the police/ military.

While the reason behind the release hasn’t been divulged, the term served in custody by the nine jihadists behind the bars were taken into consideration. Prosecutor Andrew Edis QC enthused that the nine jihadists had 'decided that ultimately they would be responsible for very serious acts of terrorism'.

Passing the sentence on February 9, 2012, Mr. Justice Wilkie, termed the plot as a 'serious, long-term venture in terrorism' that could've led to irreversible atrocities in Britain.

In 2013, the Court of Appeal handed different terms to the Jihadists— Shahjahan to 17 years and eight months and Khan and Hussain to 16 years, along with five-year extended license periods. Yet, when Khan was released in December 2018, he committed the London Bridge atrocity.

The Parole Board has maintained that it had played no role in Khan's early release. As per a report, The UK head of counter-terrorism policing, Neil Basu, stated that he believed Khan had complied with an 'extensive list of license conditions' following his early release.

The attack has now pushed the Ministry of Justice to review the license conditions of the 74 convicted terrorists.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson claimed that the attack would’ve been prevented if the early release hadn’t occurred. “What I have seen over the last 24 hours has made me angry - it's absolutely clear that we can't carry on with the failed approaches of the past,” said Johnson.

“If you are convicted of a serious terrorist offense, there should be a mandatory minimum sentence of 14 years - and some should never be released,” he added. He further implied that adequate measures will be taken to ensure that perpetrators of a terrorist offense will not be freed easily.