A planned bomb attack on Jewish sites in the English city of Manchester was foiled when the husband-and-wife team behind the plot became embroiled in a domestic dispute,prosecutors said in a case that led to the wife8217;s conviction.
Prosecutor Bobbie Cheema told Manchester Crown Court
Thursday that police were called when 33-year-old Mohammed Sajid Khan and his 38-year-old wife Shasta got into an argument at their home last July.
Shasta8217;s family was drawn into the squabble,and at one
point the dispute got physical,with Mohammed assaulting his father-in-law.
Officers called to deal with a domestic violence episode got a little more than they bargained for,Cheema told the jury in opening remarks delivered last month.
She said that one of Shasta8217;s brothers told the officers Mohammed was 8220;a home-grown terrorist.8221; Shasta joined in too,proceeding to 8220;spill the beans8221; on her husband8217;s terrorist activities all while denying she had anything to do with them.
Officers searching the home found beheading videos,al-Qaida propaganda,bomb-making guides,safety goggles,
syringes,peroxide,bleach and electrical equipment.
Detectives perusing the pair8217;s computer records found evidence of Web searches for information on how to make
explosives from acid and bleach,as well as notes referring to
firearms and addresses at the heart of Manchester8217;s Jewish
community.
An examination of the satellite navigation in Shasta
Khan8217;s car showed several trips to Jewish areas of the city.
Cheema said the pair who met on a Muslim dating website in
July 2010 and married shortly thereafter had been radicalized
by material such as al-Qaida8217;s 8220;Inspire,8221; an online magazine
aimed at English-speaking Muslims.
But she said that the 8220;path from radicalization to atrocity8221; appeared to have broken by the deterioration of 8220;internal domestic affairs.8221;
Shasta Khan,who denied all wrongdoing,burst into tears
Thursday when she was convicted of one count of preparing for acts of terrorism and two counts of possessing information useful for the purposes of terrorism. She wailed as she was led into the cells.
Her husband had pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing. Both are due to be sentenced on Friday.