Man caught ‘red handed’ with ‘fierce weapons’ to kill Jewish people, court told

Walid Saadaoui, 38, and Amar Hussein, 52 who had been living in Bolton at the time, are both accused of preparing acts of terrorism.

Bill Saadaoui, 36, the younger brother of Walid, is accused of failing to disclose information about terrorist activity.

But Preston Crown Court this year heard how Walid had been caught “red handed” before the plot could be put into action.

Prosecutor Harpreet Sandhu KC told a jury of seven men and seven women that on May 8 last year Walid was “standing by the open boot of a car in a hotel car park in Bolton.

Mr Sandhu said: “He was approached by police officers. He ran away.”

He told them that inside the boot of the car were “two assault rifles, a semi-automatic pistol and almost 200 rounds of ammunition”.

Mr Sandhu said this was not the only delivery of guns and ammunition Walid was expecting.

He told the court he was expecting another two assault rifles, another semi-automatic pistol and more ammunition and that “his plan was to have at least 900 rounds of ammunition.”

Mr Sandhu said: “Those firearms are fierce weapons.” Drawing the comparison of the notorious Paris attacks, he added: “They are the types of firearms that have been used in many terrorist attacks.”

Mr Sandhu laid out what he said the guns were capable of causing “untold harm”. “Untold harm is precisely what Walid Saadaoui planned to cause, together with Amar Hussein.”

At this point Hussein started repeated swearing at Mr Sandhu from the dock and shouting “we can defend ourselves” and “how many babies?”.

The court took a break as Hussein left the dock and did not return.

Mr Sandhu told the jury that Walid and Hussein had been planning to kill as many members of the Jewish community as possible.

He told the court the pair were “Islamic extremists” who embraced the views of “the so-called Islamic states” and who “thought they would become martyrs in their extremist cause”.

Mr Sandhu said that Walid’s brother Bilel “sympathised” with the views of Islamic state and “knew what his brother Walid Saadaoui was up to”. He added: “Because Bilel Saadaoui knew what his brother was up to he was obliged to tell the police. He failed to do that.”

But Mr Sandhu said that Walid had been caught “red handed” on May 8 after he and Hussein had planned their attack with a third man known as “Farouk”. But “Farouk” he said was in fact an “undercover operative” who the pair had entrusted their plans to.

Mr Sandhu said: “As a result the police were able to stop those plans from becoming a tragic reality.”

Mr Sandhu guided the jury through various messages between Bilel and Hussein showing their sympathies with Islamic State and radical Islam.

He said this showed why Walid did not have to hide his plans from his brother.

Walid Saadaoui, of Crankwood Road, Abram, and Amar Hussein, 52, of no fixed address, deny preparing acts of terrorism.

Bilel Saadaoui, of Fairclough Street, Hindley, denies failure to disclose information about an act of terrorism.

The trial before Mr Justice Mark Wall continues.