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How the Tiger Tiger car bombers failed
Doctor withheld information after airport terror
A DOCTOR has admitted withholding information on a foiled terrorist attack outside a West End nightclub.
Sabeel Ahmed was sentenced to 18 months in prison for his involvement in an attempt to blow up a car outside the Haymarket nightspot Tiger Tiger in June last year.
Prosecutor Jonathan Laidlaw, QC, told the Old Bailey how a quick-thinking manager at the club ordered an evacuation of more than 500 customers.
Sabeel and his brother Kafeel were arrested after driving a blazing Cherokee Jeep into the terminal building at Glasgow Airport the following day. Kafeel, 27, later died from burns he received during the incident.
Sabeel, 26, from Liverpool, pleaded guilty to a charge under the Terrorism Act of withholding information about his brother. Both worked at hospitals in the north of England.
The court heard that along with two other doctors, Kafeel had plotted to explode two cars in Haymarket on June 29.
In the early hours paramedics in an ambulance saw smoke coming from a Mercedes parked in front of Tiger Tiger in Shaftesbury Avenue. The car was packed with petrol, gas cylinders, nails and a detonator.
A second Mercedes, which had been parked illegally in Cockspur Street, was found in a compound at Park Lane. It had been removed by a towing truck after being given a parking ticket.
In both vehicles, mobile phones intended to trigger explosions malfunctioned due to leaking gas canisters in the cars, the court heard.
The devices used were “quite plainly viable and would have killed many, many people,” Mr Laidlaw added.
Sabeel followed his brother’s instructions to tell detectives that Kafeel was abroad in the hope of delaying identification of his body had he been burnt to death instantly.
He had maintained the deception for four days.
Mr Justice Calvert-Smith said he accepted that the defendant “was not party to extremist views” and only became aware of how serious the terrorist activity was at a later stage.
The trial of two other doctors alleged to be involved in the attacks is due to take place in October.
Sabeel will not serve any further time behind bars as has already spent 270 days in custody. |
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