Six West Midlands extremists admit planning attack on EDL rally

At London's Woolwich Crown Court, Jewel Uddin, Omar Mohammed Khan, Mohammed Hasseen, Anzal Hussain, Mohammed Saud, from Smethwick, and Zohaib Ahmed admitted preparing an act of terrorism between May 1 and July 4 last year.

The plan targeting the English Defence League fell apart because the gathering in Dewsbury, West Yorkshire, finished earlier than expected.

Police and security services had no intelligence about the planned attack on June 30 last year, although one of the would-be killers was under surveillance in relation to another terrorist plan.

Another of the group, Zohaib Ahmed, was also on bail for possession of terrorist documents at the time of the plot.

All of the men except Hasseen travelled to the rally armed with two shotguns, swords, knives, a nail bomb containing 458 pieces of shrapnel, and a partially assembled pipe bomb, ready to cause mass injuries and deaths. The nail bomb was an 18-inch (46cm) long rocket which had been stuffed with shrapnel and was to be powered by explosives taken from at least two large fireworks.

West Midlands Police footage taken from the traffic officer car following the stop of the Laguna. Seen are Omar Khan and Jewel Uddin (white cap). Also police helicopter shots of the Dewsbury rally.

Police estimated there could have been up to 750 EDL marchers at the Dewsbury event, but also dozens of officers and innocent passers-by. The fanatics' plan failed by chance, because they arrived at 4pm when the rally had dispersed by 2pm.

The planned attack was only uncovered because a traffic officer stopped Uddin and Khan on the M1 as they travelled back to their home town, Birmingham. He made checks on their Renault Laguna, which came up as being uninsured, and so the car was impounded.

It was only two days later that staff at the pound near Sheffield looked at the contents of the Renault and found the gang's arsenal. There were also 10 copies of a hate-filled note addressed to the enemies of Islam, the Queen and Prime Minister David Cameron.

It can also be reported that Uddin was flagged up as a person of interest to security services and police after his minor involvement with another group of terrorist plotters. He was involved as a bucket-shaker doing charity collections for the extremists, who planned to detonate up to eight rucksack bombs and possibly other devices on timers.

Irfan Naseer, 31, Irfan Khalid, 27, and Ashik Ali, 27, all from Birmingham, were convicted in February of planning the attack, which could have been bigger than the July 7 atrocities.

Four other men, including Anzal Hussain's brother Ishaaq, travelled to Pakistan for terror training as part of the plot, but were sent home when family members intervened.

Assistant Chief Constable of West Midlands Police Marcus Beale said: "Their capability was clear.

"They created devices that would have certainly maimed and possibly killed people depending on how close they were.

"Their intent was very, very clear. In my view they were very dangerous."

The men will be sentenced on 6 June.