A combination of handout pictures released by the Metropolitan Police shows police photographs of three British Muslims, Imran Mahmood, Richard Dart and Jahangir Alom who pleaded guilty in court on to travelling to Pakistan for terror training.—Photo by AFP

LONDON: Three British Muslims, including a convert who was featured in a documentary about radical Islam and a former London police support officer, were jailed on Thursday in London for traveling to Pakistan for terrorism training.

Richard Dart, Imran Mahmood and Jahangir Alom pleaded guilty last month. Prosecutors said that in addition to traveling to Pakistan for training between 2010 and 2012, the trio went to extensive lengths to try to evade surveillance, discussed making explosives and referenced Wootton Bassett — which for years served as a military repatriation town — as a possible target.

Dart, who had appeared in a BBC documentary that chronicled the efforts of his filmmaker stepbrother to understand why he had embraced an uncompromising form of Islam, refused to stand for sentencing Thursday at London's Old Bailey Court. ''I believe ruling and judging is only for Allah,'' Dart, 30, told the court.

Dart — a former BBC security guard who also featured in a YouTube video in which he criticized the British royal family, the marriage of Prince William to Kate Middleton and UK foreign policy — was jailed for six years.

Alom, a 26-year-old former police support officer who appeared in an online video expounding hardline beliefs, was sentenced to four years. Mahmood, 22, received more than nine years.

In sentencing, Judge Peregrine Simon told the three they had shown themselves to be ''committed to acts of terrorism.'' He said he did not think either Dart or Mahmood had ruled out an attack on the UK and that the latter was looking to arm himself with a bomb.

Deputy Assistant Commissioner Stuart Osborne, from Scotland Yard's counter-terrorism command, said the three men were ''clearly aware'' of anti-surveillance techniques and had expressed a desire to carry out terror attacks. ''These are dangerous men,'' he said, noting that Mahmood had received terrorist training in Pakistan and suggested he had knowledge of how to make home-made explosives, while Dart and Alom made ''great efforts'' to travel to Pakistan and seek training from terrorist groups.''

Prosecutor Mark Topping said that while the men did not identify any specific targets for an attack, ''their determination and intent were very clear.'' He said police had found high-explosive residue on Mahmood's backpack when he was searched at an airport in 2010 after returning from Pakistan. Computer experts also retrieved text that Dart and Mahmood typed out on the laptop in front of them as they sat together and communicated, ''presumably because they feared that any conversation would be overheard,'' Topping added.

The three were arrested last July, shortly before the start of the London Olympics.

Opinion

Editorial

Some progress
Updated 27 Mar, 2025

Some progress

The hard-won macroeconomic stability is only a short distance away from a deeper crisis.
Time to talk
27 Mar, 2025

Time to talk

IN an encouraging development, the government has signalled openness to PPP chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari’s ...
Black Sea truce
27 Mar, 2025

Black Sea truce

WHILE the Trump administration may have no problem with Israel renewing its rampage in Gaza, it is playing ...
Kabul visit
Updated 26 Mar, 2025

Kabul visit

Islamabad should continue to emphasise that presence of terrorists on Afghan soil stands in the way of normal commercial ties.
Drought warning
26 Mar, 2025

Drought warning

DRIVEN by rising temperatures linked to climate change, increasing drought events across Pakistan have affected tens...
Deadly roads
26 Mar, 2025

Deadly roads

DESPITE daytime restrictions on heavy vehicles, Karachi continues to witness one horrific traffic accident after...