A friend of an Islamic State terrorist who plotted to assassinate the Prime Minister has been jailed for eight-and-a-half years.
Mohammed Aqib Imran, 23, planned to travel for jihad, while Naa’imur Zakariyah Rahman, 21, was set on a suicide attack on the heart of Government.
Imran, from Ombersley Road, Birmingham, researched travel and tried to secure a false passport in online communication, fearing his mother would stop him if he used his own passport.
Rahman, from Finchley, north London, admitted helping his friend by recording an IS sponsorship video for him, the Old Bailey heard.
The pair were snared by a network of online role-players from the Met Police, MI5 and the FBI.
Rahman’s plans to kill Theresa May were scuppered when undercover officers handed him a jacket and rucksack packed with fake explosives.
Following a trial in July, Rahman was found guilty of preparing acts of terrorism and was jailed for life with a minimum term of 30 years.
Imran was convicted of possessing a terrorist handbook entitled How To Survive In The West.
Following a retrial, former student Imran was also found guilty of preparing acts of terrorism abroad on or before November 28 2017 in December.
On Tuesday, Judge Nicholas Hilliard QC jailed him for eight years and six months for preparing to join IS with an additional three years and six months on extended licence.
He also handed Imran three years and nine months in custody for possessing the terrorist publication on his Kindle, to run concurrently.
The judge accepted Imran was “immature” for his age and “more of a follower than a leader”.
While he did nothing to put off Rahman from carrying out his plot, the judge said he would not sentence him on the basis that he encouraged it.
He said: “Mr Rahman was a very dangerous man and that must have been evident from any time spent with him but also from the messages the defendant exchanged with him.
“I am afraid nothing I have seen demonstrates a change of heart by the defendant or a real insight into what would be necessary to achieve that. His defence was simply this was talk, he never intended to follow through and the jury rejected that.”
Acting Commander for the Met Police Counter Terrorism Command, Alexis Boon, said: “The idea was that Rahman would kill the Prime Minister, and Imran would subsequently have a video from a martyr recommending he be accepted into the terrorist organisation. Such a video would have held weight with Daesh.
“Of course, this was never going to happen because MI5 and the Counter Terrorism Command had been investigating the pair for some time and in fact a covert police officer had been meeting with Rahman to establish how serious his plans were.
“I am pleased with this result. Our police investigation has stopped Imran from joining Daesh on the ground in Libya, where his subsequent actions could have assisted the terrorist organisation to further their aims.”