British Men Plead Guilty to Terrorism Offences

Today three British men have pleaded guilty at the Old Bailey to preparing for terrorism acts overseas.

Jahangir Alom (a former police community support officer), Imran Mahmood and Islamic convert Richard Dart all pleaded guilty ahead of their expected trial. They will be sentenced at a later date.

The three men were charged last year, following their arrest in London in the weeks before the Olympic Games, with engaging in preparation for acts of terrorism by travelling to Pakistan for training between July 2010 and July 2012 and by advising acts of terrorism by providing information about how to go to the country for the same purpose. Their precise activities have not yet been disclosed.

The Offence

Section 5 of the Terrorism Act 2006 (which can be read here) provides that a person commits an offence if he engages in any conduct in preparation of his intention to commit an act of terrorism or assist others to commit terrorist acts. The offence is indictable only, which means that it is so serious that it can only be tried in the Crown Court before a judge and jury.

Sentencing

The maximum penalty for the offence under section 5 is life imprisonment. As the defendants have pleaded guilty they can expect to receive a discount off their sentences. It is common practice to discount an offender’s sentence when they plead guilty. This is to reflect the fact that this prevents the need for witnesses to go through the stressful experience of giving evidence and prevents the need for a costly trial. When a defendant pleads guilty at the earliest opportunity they can be given one third off of their sentence. When a defendant pleads guilty after the trial date is set they can be given up to one quarter off of their sentence. If a defendant pleads guilty just before the start of a trial or after the trial has started they can be given up to a tenth off of their sentence. Here, the defendants have pleaded guilty after their trial date has been set and could therefore receive up to a one quarter discount off of their sentences.