British woman jailed for Al-Qaeda-inspired stabbing of MP Timms

A British woman radicalised by online sermons from an Al-Qaeda cleric linked to the air cargo bomb plot was jailed for life yesterday for trying to kill a lawmaker in revenge for the invasion of Iraq.

Roshonara Choudhry, a 21-year-old student, stabbed former minister Stephen Timms twice in the stomach when she went to meet him at his constituency office in east London on May 14 this year, shortly after the general election.

The case has reportedly prompted Britain to urge the White House to order US websites hosting jihadi videos to remove the material after it emerged Ms Choudhry had watched sermons by Yemeni-US cleric Anwar al-Awlaki on the internet.

“You intended to kill in a political cause and to strike at those in government by doing so,” said Judge Jeremy Cooke, sitting at London’s Central Criminal Court, the Old Bailey.

“You did so as a matter of deliberate decision-making, however skewed your reasons, from listening to those Muslims who incite such action on the internet.”

Meanwhile, hundreds of videos inciting violence, including some linked to the suspected Al-Qaeda mastermind of the cargo plane terror plot, were removed from YouTube yesterday.

The clips by Anwar al-Awlaki, a high-profile member of the terror group thought to be behind the cargo bomb plot, were deleted from the video sharing site and more were being examined.

Ms Choudhry was found guilty on Tuesday of attempted murder and of two counts of possessing a knife. The judge passed a life sentence with a minimum term of 15 years, saying she would likely remain a danger to lawmakers.

She told police after her arrest that she wanted to kill Mr Timms because he voted in favour of the 2003 invasion of Iraq. She was found guilty on Tuesday of att-empted murder and of two counts of possessing a knife.

She appeared by videolink, after refusing to attend court because she said she did not recognise its jurisdiction. Wearing a black headscarf and glasses, she spoke only to confirm her name.

The judge said she had “absorbed” jihadi material from the internet, adding: “You said you ruined the rest of your life. You said it was worth it. You said you wanted to be a martyr.”