A British man accused of plotting a terrorist attack had notes on a “plan A” stashed on top of a wardrobe at his home, a partly secret trial heard on Wednesday.

Erol Incedal, 26, formerly known in the case as AB, is on trial at the Old Bailey on charges of preparing acts of terrorism and possessing a document entitled “bomb making” on a memory card.

The jury has been told that Incedal was conspiring with others to either target individuals such as the former prime minister Tony Blair and his wife, Cherie, or launch a wide-ranging, indiscriminate attack like the Mumbai massacre in 2008.

Following his arrest near Tower Bridge on 13 October last year, police searched Incedal’s home in south-east London, and a flat near Paddington, which the defendant had failed to tell them about.

Incedal’s wife, Kadeejah Baluch, answered the door to the family home when police arrived with a search warrant. There were four children at the flat at the time, three of them Incedal’s, aged six, four and 11 months. Baluch confirmed to officers that her husband was Incedal and said: “He normally lives here but not for the last four days.”

During the search, police found a document headed “Plan A” on top of a wardrobe in a bedroom, the court heard. It listed “three to four workers, two tennis racquets, one month’s surveillance, rent nearby flat, transport, assess security, assess risk, legitimacy, action etc,” prosecutor Richard Whittam QC said.

Other officers searched Incedal’s second address in central London where they found evidence of a number of people living there. There were toothbrushes in the bathroom, three pairs of shoes, three beds made up – one with fake silk sheets – condoms, and various DVDs of Hollywood films strewn around the flat, the court heard.

Whittam asked Matt Rogers, a crime scene investigator giving evidence about the search: “Someone is a Nic Cage fan?”

The detective constable replied: “That appears to be the case.”

Police also found a laptop in a drawer in the bedroom, which the jury has heard contained coded messages referring to a “Mumbai-style” attack and to Kalashnikov rifles.

Incedal denies the charges against him. The trial continues.