Six On Trial Over London Bomb Plot

Six men are going on trial accused of plotting to murder people in alleged bombing bids. Muktar Said Ibrahim, Manfo Kwaku Asiedu, Hussain Osman, Yassin Omar, Ramzi Mohammed and Adel Yahya are standing trial at Woolwich Crown Court in east London charged with conspiracy to murder two weeks after the July 7 bombings in 2005.

The six, who are all Muslims, are also accused of conspiracy to cause explosions likely to endanger life in an alleged attack on the London transport network that would have occurred on July 21.

Security at Woolwich will be tight for the start of their trial, which is likely to be one of the most high-profile cases involving alleged terrorism seen in Britain.

Nigel Sweeney QC is expected to open the case for the Crown Prosecution Service before Mr Justice Adrian Fulford on Monday morning.

The case is scheduled to last for up to four months, with the prosecution case taking between six and eight weeks.

Mr Sweeney, assisted by junior counsel Max Hill, will outline the prosecution’s case to the jury. He will say that the bombings were an attempt to detonate explosive devices on the London transport system on July 21, 2005. They were allegedly targeted at Tube trains and a bus.

The jury of nine women and three men were selected last week.

Mr Justice Fulford has already told them that the case involves allegations of involvement by the defendants in terrorism and that it concerns events which followed the July 7 London bombings in 2005.

“The public has been understandably frightened and concerned about the possibility of terrorist events occurring so close to home,” the judge said. “You must remain wholly unaffected by any emotion and you must be wholly unaffected by any feelings of apprehension that you might have had in 2005.”