Monday, April 16, 2012

Would-be British suicide-bomber has sentence cut for co-operating with UK authorities - @BBCNews

Saajid BadatSaajid Badat was originally jailed for 13 years

A British would-be suicide bomber jailed for plotting to blow up an aircraft has had his sentence cut after he assisted prosecutors in the US.

Saajid Badat, 33, from Gloucester, was jailed for 13 years in 2005 and would have been released in July two-thirds of the way through his term.

His sentence was cut to 11 years after he agreed to testify at a forthcoming terror trial in the US.

It is believed that Badat has now been released from jail.

The forthcoming trial, in Brooklyn, New York, is that of Adis Medunjanin, who is accused of plotting to bomb the New York subway.

It is the first time a convicted UK terrorist has entered into an agreement with the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) to give evidence in a trial against other alleged terrorists.

Sue Hemming, head of the CPS special crime and counter terrorism division, said the decision had not been taken lightly.

She said: "We considered very carefully the merits of entering into this agreement with a convicted terrorist, and we believe that the administration of justice internationally benefits from such an agreement.

"This trial is the first time a UK convicted terrorist has agreed, under the terms of our agreement, to give evidence in the United States. This will be in the trial, opening today in New York, of Adis Medunjanin, relating to an alleged al-Qaeda martyrdom plot in New York from 2008-2010.

"Badat has helped with investigations in this country, he continues to co-operate and has agreed to testify in other trials if called upon."

She added: "While in prison he fully co-operated with investigators in the counter terrorism command of the Metropolitan Police Service and US law enforcement officers in the Federal Bureau of Investigation and provided information of overwhelming importance in relation to investigations they were conducting."

In 2005, the Old Bailey heard that Badat, who had trained in Afghanistan and Pakistan, was given an explosive device designed to evade airport security.

He had booked a ticket to fly from Manchester to Amsterdam for an onward journey to the US, during which the bomb was intended to be detonated.

The device was said to be identical to that used by "shoe bomber" Richard Reid, when he tried to bring down a flight from Paris to Miami.

Badat backed out of the plan and kept the bomb parts in two suitcases at his house before he was eventually arrested in November 2003.

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