Mohammed Rehman asked Twitter followers to advise him whether he should bomb the tube or Westfield shopping centre, jury hears

A terror plot to bomb the London underground or Westfield shopping centre was foiled shortly before the 10th anniversary of the 7 July attacks, a court has heard.

Counter-terrorism officers were alerted to the plan after Mohammed Rehman, under the name Silent Bomber, asked Twitter followers for advice on which of the two targets to choose, jurors were told.

Rehman, 25, is on trial at the Old Bailey with his wife, Sana Ahmed Khan, 24, charged with preparing terrorist acts on or before 28 May this year. He is also charged with possessing an article for terrorist purposes. The pair, from Reading, deny wrongdoing.

Opening the trial, the prosecutor Tony Badenoch QC told jurors that when the couple were arrested on 28 May, “substantial quantities of chemicals and bomb-making wherewithal” were recovered from Rehman’s home. Khan had helped to buy these chemicals knowing they were to be used to make a bomb, jurors were told.

Badenoch said the pair had a common interest in violent and extreme Islamist ideology and had repeatedly researched 7/7 bombers. They had a keen interest in Islamic State, and Rehman’s online research showed he approved of their atrocities and “wished to play his own part”, jurors were told.

On 12 May he allegedly posted a public tweet using the handle Silent Bomber saying: “Westfield shopping centre or London underground? Any advice would be appreciated greatly.”

The post was seen by counter-terrorism officers, who arrested the couple 16 days later.

The prosecutor said: “The evidence suggests that the London underground may well have been on his mind as a potential target, as he was particularly fixated with the events of 7/7 and he referred to Shehzad Tanweer, one of the 7/7 suicide bombers, as his ‘beloved predecessor’.”



On the day of the tweet, Rehman repeatedly trawled YouTube for material about the London bombings and Tanweer, the court heard. Later, the court heard, Rehman told another Twitter user: “Why don’t you head to the London underground on the 7th July if you got the balls.”

Badenoch reminded jurors that 7 July 2005 was the day when 52 people lost their lives and more than 770 were injured in the “worst terrorist atrocity in this country since Lockerbie in 1988 and this country’s first-ever suicide bomber attack”.

At the time of the defendants’ arrest, just over a month before the 7/7 anniversary, they had “actively researched and shared terrorist material”, the court heard. The prosecutor said: “That was not out of idle fantastical interest, as they had also committed themselves to researching, purchasing, testing and manufacturing a substantial amount of bomb-making wherewithal.”

Rehman had trawled the internet for subjects including “suicide bomber history”, “dying for god” and “9/11”. On 28 May officers seized more than 10kg of a highly explosive chemical that if detonated “would have caused multiple fatalities in a public place”, the prosecutor said.

He told jurors that Rehman was intent on martyrdom and was unequivocal when he tweeted: “I have other plans if Insha Allah goes to plan and I’m preparing for an Istishaadi [martyrdom] operation”.

He also allegedly tweeted: “Now I just make explosives in preparation for kuffar lol and when I’ve made the required amount I’ll be wearing them on my chest.” The chemicals seized from his home showed these were no “attention-seeking boasts” as they were capable of being turned into lethal bombs “ready to go”, Badenoch said.

He added: “Given his prior knowledge, experience and the ready availability of the chemicals, the manufacture of a detonator would have taken no more than a couple of days and could have been done by him much quicker if he chose to.”

The court heard the bomb ingredients were sourced and bought on eBay and other sites with the help of Khan, whom Rehman had married in secret. Rehman allegedly tested explosives in his back garden at least twice, and on one occasion he videoed the blast and sent the film to his wife, the court heard.

On the day of his arrest, Rehman fled his home but was caught outside a Co-op after his efforts to escape by kicking and punching were thwarted by firearms officers, the court heard.



He told police there was nothing dangerous in his home, despite having tweeted that he had “a surprise waiting for them”. He also allegedly posted: “I’ve rigged my house to blow at the touch of a button by my bedside if the popo try to raid man. Nobody gets in the way of my jihad.” In fact he had not got this far, the court heard. Police found a hunting knife in the house that was similar to those used in extremist imagery, in particular by “Jihadi John”, as well as dangerous chemicals.

Badenoch told jurors: “It is difficult to conceive of a clearer threat to counter-terrorism officers than those articulated by him in those two messages, a ‘surprise’, whether his hunting knife or chemicals, and a bomb to be triggered at the touch of a button by his bedside, waiting for law enforcement seeking to counter extremist Islamic terrorism.”

Khan was arrested at her family home, and when asked if there were any hazardous materials that could injure or kill, she said: “I don’t know, I don’t go to his house.”

Khan, who studied to degree level at the University of Greenwich in south-east London, had known Rehman for 10 years. She kept their Islamic marriage a secret from her family, who did not approve of the drug-taking Rehman, and they lived separately with their parents and siblings.

Badenoch told jurors that Rehman frequently had violent arguments with his family, causing his fearful father to spend time away and even sleep rough to avoid him.

The case continues.