High security for bomb suspects' court appearance

Four men accused of plotting to murder passengers on London’s transport network in the July 21 failed suicide attacks, appeared in court for the first time today.

The alleged bombers were brought to court amid one of the toughest security operations ever seen at Belmarsh Magistrates Court in South East London.

They were driven from the high security Paddington Green Police Station in West London in two convoys with sirens blaring and helicopters hovering overhead.

A ring of steel was thrown up around the court complex where a dozen specialist search officers and dogs trained to sniff out explosives, guarded the main entrance.

A cordon of crash barriers was erected away from the court building and visitors were funnelled through a specially set up search tent.

Even plastic coffee cups were screened for harmful substances.

Five police officers from Scotland Yard’s SO19 firearms unit, armed with Heckler and Koch MP5 carbine rifles stood guard outside the courtroom itself.

The defendants were brought into court one by one for separate hearings in front of district judge, Timothy Workman.

Each of the men was dressed in standard police issue, navy blue sweater or tee-shirt and light grey jogging pants, and sat on a plain wood bench in the dock behind a thick, glass screen stretching to the ceiling.

Two police officers in protective stab-proof vests and two prison officers were stationed behind each defendant. Two more police officers in protective vests, stood guard at the door and others were in the public gallery.

The first defendant to appear was Ibrahim Muktar Said, 27, from Stoke Newington, London, who is alleged to have tried to blow up a bus in Hackney Road.

Said, who has a British passport after fleeing to the UK from Eritrea, showed little emotion apart from allowing his eyes to dart intermittently around the courtroom.

He showed a brief acknowledgement and answered “yes” when asked to confirm his name and address.

Said faces four charges – attempted murder, conspiracy to murder, conspiracy to endanger life by using explosives and making or possessing explosives with intent to endanger life.

The next man to appear was Manfo Kwaku Asiedu, 32, who faces charges of conspiracy to murder and conspiracy to endanger life by using explosives.

The charges are understood to relate to the discovery of a suspected bomb in a rucksack on open ground at Little Wormwood Scrubs in London on July 23.

Asiedu appeared in the dock with an interpreter who spoke the Ghanayan dialect Twi.

He told the court he had no fixed abode and stood for most of the brief hearing looking slightly agitated.

Asked if he understood the charges against him, he replied clearly in English: “Yes.”

Ramzi Mohamed, 23, from North Kensington, West London, who is alleged to have tried to blow up a Tube Train near Oval Station on July 21, looked slightly distressed as he was read the same four charges as Said.

He shook his head repeatedly and stared at the floor, as he slouched in the dock.

Yasin Omar, 24, from New Southgate, London, remained calm and said nothing at the same four charges put to him.

Omar, who was accused of trying to detonate a device on a Tube train near Warren Street, nodded when asked if he understood the charges.

All four men are accused of plotting the failed July 21 atrocity with Hussain Osman, who is alleged to have tried to blow up a Tube train near Shepherds Bush.

He is currently being held in Rome, awaiting extradition on a European arrest warrant.

No bail applications were made on behalf of any of the defendants and all four were remanded in custody to appear at the Old Bailey for a plea and case management hearing on November 14.

None of them were in the dock today for more than a few minutes. Prosecutor, Deborah Walsh, gave no details of the case against them.

Each man was then led away down a tunnel, known by prison officers as the “pipe”, which leads to Belmarsh high security jail.

Three other men also appeared before the court today charged in connection with the failed July 21 bombings.

Asias Girma, 20, of Stockwell, South London, appeared charged with failing to disclose information about Hussain Osman and with assisting him in evading arrest.

Siraj Yassin Abdullah Ali, 30, of New Southgate, North London, appeared charged with failing to disclose information about Ibrahim Muktar Said, and Yasin Omar, and with assisting Said in evading arrest.

Wharbi Mohammed, 22, of Notting Hill, West London, appeared charged with failing to disclose information about Ramsey Mohamed and with assisting him in evading arrest.

They all appeared separately, one after the other, in a brief five minute hearing.

Each of the men’s representatives indicated that they would plead not guilty to the charges.

No application for bail was made on their behalf and each was remanded in custody to appear before Bow Street Magistrates Court in central London on August 11.

A committal hearing is likely on September 1.

A total of six other people had already been charged before today in connection with the July 21 attempted bombings.

A further two people remain in custody in London, with Osman being held in Rome.