A 20-year-old man appeared in court on Wednesday charged with plotting to assassinate British Prime Minister Theresa May in a bomb and knife attack. Naa'imur Zakariyah Rahman is accused of planning an explosion outside May's Downing Street office then trying to enter the building with a suicide vest and a knife in a bid to kill her.
State prosecutor Mark Carroll said Rahman planned to detonate an improvised explosive device at the Downing Street gates, then, in the ensuing chaos, try to enter the building "with a view to trying to kill the prime minister". He planned to use a suicide vest, pepper spray and a knife, Carroll told Westminster Magistrates Court in London.
Rahman had carried out hostile reconnaissance of the area as part of his preparation, it is alleged. Rahman is charged with preparing terrorist acts and also with assisting another man, Mohammad Aqib Imran, to prepare separate terror acts. He appeared in court alongside Imran, 21, who is accused of trying to join the Islamic State jihadist terror group by trying to obtain a fake passport with a view to travelling to Libya.