Jury out in Leytonstone Tube knife attack ‘for Syria’ trial

From London 24 and The Sun

A jury has retired to consider verdicts in the trial of a Muslim fanatic accused of stabbing a random stranger at Leytonstone Tube Station after being inspired by the killing of Fusilier Lee Rigby.

Somali-born Muhiddin Mire, 30, attacked 56-year-old musician Lyle Zimmerman with a rusty knife and threatened four other travellers as he ran amok through the ticket hall in December, the Old Bailey has heard.

Prosecutor Jonathan Rees QC told jurors at the Old Bailey the attacker’s mental health problems were not a defence. He claimed Mire had shown interest in ISIS and Islamic extremism before his mental “relapse”, when he decided to quit his job as a taxi driver.

The prosecutor added: “He is sympathetic to those who are choosing to pursue jihad against the non Muslims.

“It can be no coincidence that he carried out the attack three days after parliament had voted to extend the bombing campaign against ISIS to territory in Syria. The evidence clearly establishes that the motive underpinning this attack was that bombing campaign in Syria. That was at the very forefront at his mind.”

He went on to say Mire was “carrying out a revenge attack on innocent civilians in retaliation for bombing being carried out in ISIS controlled areas of Syria”.