British man pleads guilty to plotting bomb attack
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Ilyas Akhtar, 20, appeared at London’s Old Bailey court by video link and pleaded guilty to four charges.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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LONDON – A British man on Nov 14 pleaded guilty to plotting a terrorist attack, collecting weapons and parts for a homemade bomb, conducting reconnaissance at an army base near King Charles’ Windsor Castle and setting fire to a church.
Ilyas Akhtar, 20, appeared at London’s Old Bailey court via video link and pleaded guilty to four charges, including a count of engaging in conduct in preparation for terrorist acts.
The charge stated that he had accessed an al-Qaeda manual, bought knives and razor blades and conducted research into weapons, poisons and how to make an improvised explosive device.
He visited locations, including Windsor’s Victoria Barracks – the base of the Coldstream Guards infantry regiment, whose duties include the ceremonial role of protecting royal palaces.
Akhtar also pleaded guilty to one count of arson at a church in Slough, a town near Windsor.
The other charges he admitted include possessing a record likely to be useful to a person preparing an act of terrorism and one count of perpetrating a bomb hoax.
He pleaded not guilty to four other counts of arson relating to fires at an ice rink and a leisure centre in Slough in May. He faces a provisional trial at Woolwich Crown Court in October 2026 and was remanded into custody. REUTERS
