Sir Keir Starmer has welcomed the life jail terms for two men who planned a ‘horrifying’ Islamic State-inspired gun attack on a mass gathering of Jews in Manchester.
Two men who plotted the ‘worst ever’ terror attack on British Jews were today jailed for a total of 63 years.
Walid Saadaoui, 38, and Amar Hussein, 52, were thwarted when they unknowingly laid bare their scheme to an undercover operative.
Their terrorist preparations were unconnected to the October attack at the Heaton Park Congregation Synagogue in Crumpsall, Manchester, where two worshippers, Melvin Cravitz, 66, and Adrian Daulby, 53, were killed.
Writing on social media site X in response to the sentencing, the Prime Minister said: ‘Good.
‘This is a horrifying case.
‘I want to thank law enforcement for bringing these vile cowards to justice and reassure our Jewish community that we will never relent in our fight against antisemitism and terror.’
In a chilling reminder of how rising anti-Semitism since the October 7 massacre is fuelling violence against Jewish communities in the UK, migrants Hussein and Saadaoui had sought to buy a stash of firearms and over 900 rounds of ammunition.
Amar Hussein (left) Walid Saadaoui pictured in Dover as they plotted a mass casualty gun attack on Jewish target
Plotters Walid Saadaoui, 38, left, and Amar Hussein planned to slaughter British Jews in a twisted revenge for Israel’s military response to the October 7 attacks
But what police chiefs described as their ‘genuinely chilling’ plot was foiled by an ‘exceptionally brave’ undercover operative (UCO) sent to infiltrate the terror cell.
Footage shows the moment Hussein pledges his allegiance to ISIS, saying they are ‘real Muslims’.
Further new footage shows detectives finally telling Saadaoui that he has been duped, and that the man he regarded as an armourer and fellow terrorist has in fact been secretly recording all their conversations.
Jailing both men for life today, Mr Justice Mark Wall ordered Saadaoui to serve a minimum of 37 years and told Hussein he would spend at least 26 years in prison before being eligible for parole.
Sir Stephen Watson, the Chief Constable of Greater Manchester Police, said Jews ‘have more justification to be fearful than anybody else’, which he said needed to be addressed.
He said: ‘We have seen the terrorist atrocity in Manchester at a synagogue on Yom Kippur. We have seen the events on Bondi Beach in Sydney.
‘We are seeing the manifestation of hatred moving beyond our shores globally and this is a threat to all of us. It is a threat to our Jewish communities and if our Jewish communities are under threat we are all under threat.
‘And we all owe to our Jewish friends and neighbours a steadfast duty to stand with them in all circumstances, and that is certainly what we do as part of Greater Manchester Police, the counter-terrorism network and beyond.’
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