Three terrorists who called themselves the 'Three Musketeers' are facing jail after their plot to carry out a London Bridge-style knife rampage was foiled by undercover MI5 agents.

Naweed Ali, 29, Khobaib Hussain, 25 and Mohibur Rahman, 33, named themselves after the literary characters as they collected a small arsenal including a half-made pipe bomb and a meat cleaver with the word 'Kafir' etched into the blade.

They used a Musketeers image from the Disney cartoon as a logo on encrypted Telegram messages as they prepared to bring carnage to the streets of Britain.

Shocking CCTV footage shows two of the trio walking around Birmingham New Street station with the bag in which their weapons were later found.

Naweed Ali and Khobaib Hussain have been convicted of plotting a knife attack on the streets of Britain

Mohibur Rahman (left) made up the so-called 'Three Muskateers'. Tahir Aziz (right) was also convicted today after buying a samurai sword as part of the plot

CCTV shows Naweed Ali and Khobaib Hussain at Birmingham New Street Station with the bag in which the arsenal of weapons was later found

Husssain and Ali had already been convicted of terrorist offences after they went to training camps in Pakistan.

Police and security services set up a fake delivery firm called 'Hero Couriers' to snare them again.

The firm rented premises in Birmingham city centre and hired Hussain for £100 a day - even issuing him with a t-shirt and high-visibility vest bearing the company logo as he was dispatched on jobs around the country.

An undercover officer spotted Hussain carrying a drawstring JD Sports bag which was later found on the back seat of Ali's black Seat Leon car in Birmingham.

In the bag was the meat cleaver and half-made pipe bomb and other items including an air pistol imitation handgun with an empty magazine taped to the side of it, 11 more shotgun cartridges, a live unfired 9mm bullet, a roll of gaffer tape and a pair of black latex gloves.

Fellow radical Tahir Aziz, 38, who bought a samurai sword from a sex shop for the terror cell, was also caught.

When the four men were arrested they denied all knowledge of the bag and their lawyers claimed the undercover officer and other officer had planted it to frame them.

But prosecutors insisted that the defendants shared 'the same radical belief in violent jihad' and were planning a knife rampage that could be executed 'imminently.'

A meat cleaver with the word 'Kafir' etched into the blade was found in Hussain's bag

'Kafir' in Arabic means a non-believer or infidel. The prosecutor in the case said: 'You may think it is absolutely clear what message was to be sent by that item'

All four men were convicted of one count of preparing for acts of terrorism under Section 5 of the Terrorism Act 2006.

Rahman yelled 'Hope you're happy with your lives and your deception' at the police and prosecutors after the verdicts were given.

Jurors crush on detective jeopardised five-month trial The five-month trial, which has cost the taxpayer millions, almost collapsed when a juror developed a crush on the officer in the case, DS Ryan Chambers. Another woman was discharged from the jury after it was revealed she had repeatedly asked court staff to find out if the detective was single. When questioned about the incidents, the 'match-maker' juror revealed: 'We all laugh and makes jokes about all the men in court about who is married or single.' Advertisement

Mr Justice Globe remanded the four in custody ahead of sentence tomorrow morning.

Hussain's father, who wished to remain anonymous, told ITV News that this was 'a set up by the police'.

After the verdict, he said: 'How do you think a father would feel? I personally think my son is 100 per cent innocent and I will fight this all the way whatever it takes. I know that he has done nothing.

'This is a complete set up by the police. There was no evidence in court that these items belonged to them.

'This was a set up by the police, they were targeted by the police and if anything, I want the truth and justice to come out.'

The court heard Ali and Hussain lived next door to each other in the Sparkill area of Birmingham.

In 2012, they both pleaded guilty to engaging in conduct in preparation of terrorist acts under Section 5 of the Terrorism Act 2006.

'Their conduct had included flying to Pakistan with the intention of undertaking terrorist training in a camp, albeit that they returned to the UK within days of arriving in Pakistan,' said prosecutor Gareth Patterson, QC.

The pair were both jailed for 40 months in 2013 but began plotting the terrorist outrage after being freed from jail.

Rahman, who lived in Stoke and worked at a takeaway called the Mactas Peri Peri Grill had been jailed for five years in 2012 after he was caught with copies of terrorist fanzine 'Inspire'.

He claimed MI5 agents tried to recruit him as informant against hate preacher Anjem Choudary.

But instead he joined the 'Three Musketeers' plot to unleash havoc with their haul of guns, knives and ammunition.

The group was arrested after undercover police and MI5 agents found a bag stuffed with weapons including a partially constructed pipe bomb and an imitation gun in the car

An air pistol was found among the groups arsenal, with an empty magazine strapped to it

Prosecutor Mr Patterson said: 'Found in that bag under the driver's seat was a meat cleaver or machete. Scratched onto the blade in capital letters was the word 'KAFIR'. As you probably know, the word 'kafir' in Arabic means a non-believer or infidel.

'You may think it is absolutely clear what message was to be sent by that item with those letters scratched or engraved onto it and what use Naweed Ali intended to make of it.'

The pipe bomb was full of gunpowder and fashioned from a tube closed at both ends with brass-coloured metal caps.

Inside each end cap was a green shotgun cartridge containing gunpowder and shot, which could potentially be fired by striking them.

Mr Patterson said the device was not yet viable as it had no ignition mechanism, but added: 'The ultimate intended use of that device was clear.'

CCTV captured the men plotting the outrage. Pictured here walking in Bank Hall Road park

Undercover police created a fake courier service to help gather intelligence on the group

Aziz purchased a Samurai sword from Rif Raf sex shop in Hanley in Stoke-on-Trent

The IED found in Hussain's car was said to be made with the exact 22mm piping he had been taught about while studying plumbing at City College in Birmingham.

His DNA was also found on a strip of tape used to strap an empty magazine onto an imitation hand gun inside the the JD Sport bag found in his car.

Ali told the court he was only interested in 'innocent pasttimes' such as playing FIFA on his Playstation and watching the US sitcom '*The Big Bang Theory' on TV.

But the prosecutor said: 'These were not innocent people, these were guilty people.

'They wanted to discharge their duty to attack the kuffar [non-Muslims] as they saw it, and will themselves have got these weapons for an attack.'

Ali and Hussain, both of Birmingham, and Rahman and Aziz, of Wulstan Road, both of Stoke, each denied but were convicted of a single charge of preparing for acts of terrorism between 25 May and 27 August last year under Section 5 of the Terrorism Act 2006.

Terror trio had links to hate preacher Anjem Choudary but judge feared telling the jury could prejudice the trial

Hate preacher Anjem Choudary exchanged messages with the terror gang

Members of the 'Three Musketeers' terror cell may have met with convicted hate preacher Anjem Choudary just days before they began their attack, it can now be revealed.

Text messages not seen by the jury show Mohibur Rahman, 33, and Tahir Aziz, 38, planned to travel to see the radical cleric on May 8 last year.

That night at 11.46pm, Choudary sent a text message to Rahman, which read: 'Dear brother did you reach home yet safe and sound?'

The figurehead of banned group Al-Muhajiroun was awaiting trial at the Old Bailey at the time for inviting support for Islamic State. He was convicted and later jailed for five-and-a-half years.

As part of his strict bail conditions, Choudary was banned from contacting a list of known extremists, and was made subject to requirements to live at his home address in Ilford, Essex and to wear an electronic tag.

Choudary has helped radicalise a string of terrorists, with high-profile supporters including Michael Adebolajo and Michael Adebowale, the murderers of soldier Lee Rigby, and suspected IS executioner Siddhartha Dhar.

His full contact with Rahman and Aziz can be reported for the first time after they were found guilty of preparing terrorist acts along with Naweed Ali, 29, and Khobaib Hussain, 25, between May 25 and August 27 last year.

Khobaib Hussain and Naweed Ali at Birmingham Airport. They were previously jailed for flying to Pakistan to try and attend a terrorist training camp

Rahman was last in touch with Choudary just days before the start of the indictment period, on May 20, when he told him: 'Just a quick msge to check u r well, if you ever need anything don't hesitate.'

Jurors were told about the messages when prosecutor Gareth Patterson QC opened the case on March 22, describing Choudary as 'the controversial British figure convicted last year of encouraging support for Islamic State'.

'There were messages involving Anjem Choudary. Rahman sent text messages to AC, a number used by Anjem Choudary, about Rahman and Aziz visiting Choudary, at that stage awaiting his trial,' he said.

But moments later news broke of a terrorist attack in Westminster and the trial was halted as details emerged of how Khalid Masood, 52, killed five people, including a police officer, in a car and knife attack in the heart of London.

Masood was linked to Choudary in reports and Mr Justice Globe agreed his contact with the defendants should be removed from evidence to avoid prejudice in the trial.