Buckingham Palace sword attacker ‘met Parsons Green bomber and likeminded brothers’ in prison, court hears

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An alleged terrorist who attacked police officers with a sword outside Buckingham Palace met the Parsons Green bomber and other “likeminded brothers” in prison, a court has heard.

Mohiussunnath Chowdhury also claimed to have met a man who knew the Isis executioner Jihadi John, whose real name was Mohammed Emwazi, while awaiting trial.

He is accused of planning massacres on potential targets including Madam Tussauds, a gay pride parade and an open-top London tour bus following his release.

The 28-year-old was held in prison during his first trial over the Buckingham Palace attack, and a retrial after that jury failed to reach a verdict.

Woolwich Crown Court was told how he was released from HMP Belmarsh in late December 2018 after being acquitted of a terror charge in the second trial.

Prosecutor Duncan Atkinson QC said he successfully argued at that time that he was attempting “suicide by cop” rather than committing a terror attack.

But Mr Chowdhury allegedly told undercover police officers, who were posing as fellow jihadis, that he had “deceived” that court.

The court heard that he admitted originally planning an attack at Windsor Castle, but leaving because he could not see any soldiers to target, and driving to Buckingham Palace instead on 25 August 2017.

Mr Chowdhury allegedly told how he was helped by other extremists he met in prison.

“He explained that at the time of that trial he had a big beard and looked unkempt, but whilst waiting for his retrial a fellow inmate advised him to play the game and shave his beard off which is what the defendant did,” Mr Atkinson told the court on Wednesday.

“He appeared very proud when he was speaking about how he had deceived the jury at his retrial … he said that they should have seen the faces of the police and lawyers when a not guilty verdict was returned.”

Jurors were shown photos of drawings that were found in Mr Chowdhury’s prison cell at HMP Belmarsh, including one showing a terrorist shouting “Allahu akbar” and firing at a police officer outside 10 Downing Street, and another depicting the 9/11 attacks.

Mr Atkinson said a total of 12 documents allegedly written by Mr Chowdhury in prison “provide a justification for violence against the UK, its government, army and police”.

He allegedly told undercover officers that he had “learned a lot from likeminded brothers whilst in prison”, and that while jailed he had fantasised about a vehicle attack on crowds marking Remembrance Day.

In covertly recorded conversations, Mr Chowdhury allegedly said he had met the Parsons Green attacker Ahmed Hassan, who was jailed for life for attempting to bomb a London Underground train in 2017.

“He spoke of a Turkish male called Erol Incidel, also known as Haroon,” Mr Atkinson said.

“He said he didn't know the exact offences Haroon was in prison for but he said that he did know that Haroon had met 'Jihadi John' in Syria."

Speaking to his 10-year-old cousin following his release, Mr Chowdhury allegedly said prison was “scary” on his first night but added: “The next day was alright. It was normal, I met loads of Muslims there is was all good.”

Days after he was freed, the former Uber driver was allegedly posting extremist content on Instagram, calling jihad “the peak of Islam”.

Prosecutors allege that Mr Chowdhury started planning new attacks within days, and he has been charged with preparing acts of terrorism between January and July last year, when he was arrested.

Mr Atkinson told the jury: “He had, in reality, hit the ground running on his release from prison, and ready to pick up where he had been forced to let off in 2017 when his attack at that time had failed.”

Mr Chowdhury denies preparing acts of terrorism, disseminating a terrorist publication and possessing terrorist information.

His sister, 25-year-old Sneha Chowdhury, denies two counts of failing to disclose information regarding terrorist activity. The trial continues.