Life for couple who planned 7/7 anniversary attack

Mohammed Rehman was given a minimum term of 27 years, while his now ex-wife Sana Ahmed Khan was told she must spend at least 25 years behind bars.

A jury unanimously found the couple guilty of preparing of an act of terrorism in May this year.

Rehman was also sentenced to 12 years to run concurrently for possessing an article for terrorist purposes.

The Old Bailey heard how the couple became radicalised after marrying in October 2013.

They kept their marriage secret from friends and relatives and had not shown any strong interest in Islam before then.

Rehman, 25, who called himself the Silent Bomber, went online to ask Twitter users for suggestions on which target to choose: Westfield shopping centre in London or the Underground network.

With money from Khan, 24, he bought chemicals needed to make a huge bomb at his family home in Reading. He even filmed himself testing explosives in his back garden.

The couple repeatedly went online to research the July 7 bombers, who carried out suicide attacks on the London transport network in 2005. The plot was only thwarted after counter-terrorism officers intervened.

The couple, who were separated by two prison guards in the dock, were expressionless and stared straight ahead as they sat quietly at the Old Bailey.

I am satisfied that you determined to fulfil the Islamic State’s call for Jihad. Mr Justice Baker

Mr Justice Baker told him: “I am satisfied that you determined to fulfil the Islamic State’s call for Jihad; not like some, by travelling to Syria or elsewhere to take part in the conflict in those areas, but by carrying out an act of terrorism within the United Kingdom.

“The type of act which you envisaged not only encompassed the use of explosive substances which would be used to maximum effect so as to cause multiple injuries and fatalities, but specifically included a suicide bombing; an act which envisaged martyrdom, a notion specifically resurrected by Islamic State in order to encourage this type of venture.”

Khan wrote to the judge saying she had divorced Rehman and that she should have “distanced myself from him a long time ago”.

The judge said Khan, who has an English degree from Greenwich University, had tried to limit her role in the plot.

But he told her: “Although I do not consider that it is likely that you were initially attracted by the excitement which appeared to be offered by engagement with the actions of Islamic State, I am satisfied that it was you who became interested in the theological justification of its aims, and thereafter encouraged Mohammed Rehman to pursue its ideology.”