Two men have been handed lengthy prison sentences in the United Kingdom after a court found they were preparing an Islamic State-inspired terrorist attack
aimed at killing hundreds of Jews in England—an atrocity prosecutors said could have ranked among the deadliest in British history.
Walid Saadaoui, 38, and Amar Hussein, 52, were convicted following a trial at Preston Crown Court, which began shortly after an unrelated deadly attack on a synagogue in Manchester.
Prosecutors described the pair as Islamist extremists who planned to carry out a mass-casualty shooting using automatic weapons at a Jewish target in Manchester. The court heard that the intended attack could have been even more devastating than the mass shooting at a Jewish Hanukkah celebration in Bondi Beach, where 15 people were killed.
Speaking after sentencing, prosecutor Harpreet Sandhu said that if the plan had been executed, the consequences “could have been very much more serious” than recent attacks seen in Australia and the UK.
Saadaoui was sentenced to a minimum of 37 years in prison, while Hussein received a minimum term of 26 years. Delivering the judgment, **Mark Wall** told the court the men were “very close to being ready to carry out this plan.”
Hussein refused to attend his sentencing and had largely boycotted the trial. The judge said this behavior reflected cowardice, noting that Hussein was “brave enough to plan to threaten an unarmed group with an AK-47 but not sufficiently courageous to face up to what he did.”
Plot described as potentially one of the deadliest on UK soil
During the trial, jurors heard that Saadaoui had arranged for two assault rifles, an automatic handgun, and nearly 200 rounds of ammunition to be smuggled into Britain through the port of Dover before his arrest in May 2024. Prosecutors said he intended to acquire additional weapons and stockpile up to 900 rounds of ammunition.
Judge Wall said the plan, if carried out, would likely have been “one of the deadliest terrorist attacks ever carried out on British soil.”
The court was told the plot was ultimately thwarted because Saadaoui’s supposed weapons supplier—known to him as “Farouk”—was in fact an undercover operative working with authorities.
Saadaoui’s brother, Bilel Saadaoui, 37, was also convicted after failing to disclose information about acts of terrorism. He was sentenced to six years in prison. Photo by Emmanuel Huybrechts from Laval, Canada, Wikimedia commons.