Bomb gang jailed over 'wicked' plot

The airliner bomb plotters were jailed for life yesterday for planning what judge Mr Justice Henriques said was an atrocity comparable with the September 11 attacks.

British-born ringleader Abdulla Ahmed Ali was told he would serve a minimum of 40 years for his role in "the most grave and wicked conspiracy ever proven within this jurisdiction".

Accomplices Assad Sarwar and Tanvir Hussain were also given life sentences. Mr Sarwar was told he would serve a minimum of 36 years. Mr Hussain will serve a minimum of 32 years.

The al Qaida-inspired terror cell planned to detonate home-made liquid bombs on flights bound for major North American cities. Mr Ali, of Walthamstow, east London, was found guilty along with Mr Sarwar and Mr Hussain last week at Woolwich Crown Court of conspiracy to murder on a mass scale following the largest-ever counter-terrorism operation in the UK.

Mr Justice Henriques said: "The intention was to perpetrate a terrorist outrage that would stand alongside the events of September 11, 2001 in history." The judge added that the airline bomb plot had "reached an advanced stage in its development". He said the men had "sufficient chemicals for 20 home-made detonators of commercial strength".

"I'm satisfied that there is every likelihood that this plot would have succeeded but for the intervention of the police and the security service," he said.

Referring to a video of a mock explosion on board an airliner, Mr Justice Henriques said: "I could only conclude the chance of an aircraft surviving such an explosion at altitude was remote. Had this conspiracy not been interrupted, a massive loss of life would almost certainly have resulted - and if the detonation was over land, the number of victims would have been even greater still."