'Airline bomb plotters' to face retrial
Seven men will face a retrial over a plot to detonate flights over the Atlantic
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Wednesday, 10, Sep 2008 04:37
Seven men will face a retrial over an alleged plot to detonate flights over the Atlantic, the crown prosecution service (CPS) has announced.
On Monday, a jury at Woolwich crown court found three men guilty of conspiracy to murder but failed to agree verdicts on four others accused of plotting terrorist attacks.
Abdullah Ahmed Ali, 27, Assad Sarwar, 28, and Tanvir Hussain, 27, were all convicted of conspiracy to murder persons unknown and had been due to be sentenced next month.
However, after a five-month trial the jury could not decide if Ibrahim Savant 27, Arafat Waheed Khan, 26, Waheed Zaman 24, and Umar Islam, 30 were also involved in the alleged conspiracy.
The CPS has decided today that the men would go back on trial.
All seven men previously admitted conspiring to cause a public nuisance by making 'martyr' videos threatening explosions.
The director of public prosecutions, Sir Ken Macdonald said: "I have carefully considered this case with the head of my counter terrorism division and with counsel.
"I have today concluded that the prosecution should apply to retry each of these defendants on every count that the recently discharged jury failed to agree upon. This will include a count that each defendant conspired to detonate improvised explosive devices on transatlantic passenger aircraft.
"We shall be returning to court to make this application in due course."