Overview

Mohammed Shahjahan was the leader of a group of nine men arrested in England on December 20, 2010, in connection with an al-Qaeda-inspired plot to blow up the London Stock Exchange (LSE) on Christmas Eve. The group sought to launch a coordinated bomb-and-gun attack on the LSE and other targets in England in the style of the November 2008 attacks in Mumbai, India. Shahjahan and coconspirators Nazam Hussain and Usman Khan had also planned to set up a training camp in Pakistan for British militants.“Stoke terror sentences revised,” BBC News, April 16, 2013, https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-22168422. Shahjahan pleaded guilty in 2012 to preparing an act of terrorism and was sentenced to 16 years in prison.“Stoke terror sentences revised,” BBC News, April 16, 2013, https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-22168422. He has since been released early after serving only half his sentence.Neil Johnston, Fariha Karim, and Francis Elliott, “London Bridge attacker Usman Khan was allowed to live near plotters,” The Times (London), December 7, 2019, https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/london-bridge-attacker-usman-khan-was-allowed-to-live-near-plotters-nc6s09kpq.

Others involved in the LSE plot included Khan, Hussain, Shah Rahman, Gurukanth Desai, Abdul Malik Miah, Mohibur Rahman, Omar Sharif Latif, and Mohammed Chowdhury.“Terrorism gang jailed for plotting to blow up London Stock Exchange,” Telegraph (London), February 9, 2012, https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/terrorism-in-the-uk/9072455/Terrorism-gang-jailed-for-plotting-to-blow-up-London-Stock-Exchange.html. Shahjahan and some of the others involved met through Islam4UK, an Islamist offshoot of the banned British Islamist network al-Muhajiroun led by Anjem Choudary and Omar Bakri Mohammed. Others met while preaching in London street stalls about radical Islam.Dominic Casciani, “Stock Exchange plotters: Fantasists or a threat?,” BBC News, February 9, 2012, https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-16953938.

In a 2010 interview with BBC News, Shahjahan said he was happy to be called a terrorist because Islam’s prophet Muhammad was also called a terrorist and a fundamentalist. He described his radicalization process in the interview, saying he was being pulled in different directions about which group to get involved with until he met an individual knowledgeable in Islam who set him on the right path. Shahjahan said he studied at least six months with him about Muhammad’s life. Shahjahan said he learned how Muhammad had been hated and persecuted for his beliefs, which he had never learned from anybody before this individual. Shahjahan also outlined his vision for the United Kingdom to be ruled under sharia (Islamic law). Alcohol and pornography would be banned while adulterers would be stoned and thieves would have their hands cut off, he told the BBC.“Jihadist Mohammed Shahjahan sets out vision for UK,” BBC News, February 9, 2012, https://www.bbc.com/news/av/uk-16967202/jihadist-mohammed-shahjahan-sets-out-vision-for-uk.

Shahjahan did not say in the BBC interview who this individual he studied with was, but it seems likely to have been Choudary. Shahjahan and other LSE plotters had Choudary’s phone number stored in their phones at the time of their arrests.“Terrorism gang jailed for plotting to blow up London Stock Exchange,” Telegraph (London), February 9, 2012, https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/terrorism-in-the-uk/9072455/Terrorism-gang-jailed-for-plotting-to-blow-up-London-Stock-Exchange.html. Choudary admitted that several of the plotters were his students but told British media that police had taken their conversations “out of context.”Dominik Lemanski, “Bomb plotters are my students, admits Choudary,” Daily Star (London), February 5, 2012, https://www.dailystar.co.uk/news/latest-news/bomb-plotters-students-admits-choudary-18512705.

Shahjahan and other members also drew inspiration from deceased al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula propagandist Anwar al-Awlaki and looked to AQAP’s Inspire magazine for instructions on building pipe bombs.“London Stock Exchange terror bomb plot was ‘amateurish,’” BBC News, February 8, 2012, https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-16951623. The plotters were reportedly concerned about whether Islam allowed for the use of violence. Ultimately, Awlaki’s lectures provided them with the justification they sought.Dominic Casciani, “Stock Exchange plotters: Fantasists or a threat?,” BBC News, February 9, 2012, https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-16953938. Police found copies of Inspire in Shahjahan’s home after his arrest.“Usman Khan and others -v- R,” Courts and Tribunals Judiciary, April 16, 2013, https://www.judiciary.uk/judgments/usman-khan-others-v-r-judgment/.

While planning the LSE attack, Shahjahan sought to raise money with co-conspirators Hussain and Khan to set up a terror-training camp for British Muslims on land owned by Khan’s family in Pakistan-controlled Kashmir. All three lived in the English city of Stoke-on-Trent and formed their own cohort within the larger group. At one point, Hussain referred to Shahjahan as the ameer, or leader of their group. Police also found a document in Shahjahan’s handwriting at Hussain’s house that outlined individual roles in the group. The document placed Shahjahan at the top of the organizational structure.“Usman Khan and others -v- R,” Courts and Tribunals Judiciary, April 16, 2013, https://www.judiciary.uk/judgments/usman-khan-others-v-r-judgment/. According to the judge at their trial, the three from Stoke considered themselves to be more serious jihadists than the others in the group.Guy Faulconbridge and Michael Holden, “RPT-The al Qaeda-inspired 28-year-old militant who launched London Bridge attack,” Reuters, December 2, 2019, https://www.reuters.com/article/britain-security-attacker/rpt-the-al-qaeda-inspired-28-year-old-militant-who-launched-london-bridge-attack-idUSL8N28C0OF.

In November 2010, Chowdhury sent a message to Shahjahan, Mohibur Rahman, and Shah Rahman rejecting the “covenant of security,” the concept that jihadists would not target the countries in which Muslims reside.“Usman Khan and others -v- R,” Courts and Tribunals Judiciary, April 16, 2013, https://www.judiciary.uk/judgments/usman-khan-others-v-r-judgment/. The group considered targeting Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, and the London Eye.“Terrorism gang jailed for plotting to blow up London Stock Exchange,” Telegraph (London), February 9, 2012, https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/terrorism-in-the-uk/9072455/Terrorism-gang-jailed-for-plotting-to-blow-up-London-Stock-Exchange.html; Randeep Ramesh and Peter Walker, “Gunmen run amok in Mumbai terror attack killing and injuring hundreds,” Guardian (London), November 27, 2008, https://www.theguardian.com/world/2008/nov/27/india-terrorist-attacks-mumbai. They began planning the attack in November 2010 and intended to target the LSE on Christmas Eve, even though the stock exchange would be closed.“Stoke terror sentences revised,” BBC News, April 16, 2013, https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-22168422. Witnesses during the trial called the plot amateurish and unlikely to succeed.“London Stock Exchange terror bomb plot was ‘amateurish,’” BBC News, February 8, 2012, https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-16951623.

Shahjahan and his co-conspirators pleaded guilty to preparation for acts of terrorism on January 31, 2012. On February 7, Shahjahan received an Imprisonment for Public Protection (IPP) indeterminate sentence with a minimum of eight years and 10 months. The open sentence gave the parole board authority to determine the length of Hussain’s imprisonment based on whether he still presented a threat.“Usman Khan and others -v- R,” Courts and Tribunals Judiciary, April 16, 2013, https://www.judiciary.uk/judgments/usman-khan-others-v-r-judgment/. The United Kingdom abolished IPP sentences later in 2012 and Shahjahan appealed his sentence.Guy Faulconbridge and Michael Holden, “RPT-The al Qaeda-inspired 28-year-old militant who launched London Bridge attack,” Reuters, December 2, 2019, https://www.reuters.com/article/britain-security-attacker/rpt-the-al-qaeda-inspired-28-year-old-militant-who-launched-london-bridge-attack-idUSL8N28C0OF. The U.K. Court of Appeal overturned the sentence in April 2013 and ordered Shahjahan to serve a fixed-term sentence of a minimum of 16 years, of which he would have to serve at least eight. Khan and Hussain also received revised sentences.“Stoke terror sentences revised,” BBC News, April 16, 2013, https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-22168422.

Khan and Hussain were both released early in 2018. Shahjahan was also released early, though it is unclear exactly when. As of December 2019, Shahjahan was living in a bail hostel in Staffordshire, England. Authorities had given him a curfew and ordered him to wear an electronic GPS tracker. Shahjahan, Khan, and Hussain reportedly lived less than 20 miles from each other.Neil Johnston, Fariha Karim, and Francis Elliott, “London Bridge attacker Usman Khan was allowed to live near plotters,” The Times (London), December 7, 2019, https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/london-bridge-attacker-usman-khan-was-allowed-to-live-near-plotters-nc6s09kpq.

Currently, British law allows for convicts serving fixed-term sentences to be released halfway through the term and complete the remainder of the sentence on home arrest under specific conditions.“Leaving Prison,” Gov.UK, accessed December 5, 2019, https://www.gov.uk/leaving-prison. British leaders questioned Khan’s early release and sought a review of 74 convicts who received early conditional releases.“Boris Johnson says 74 terror prisoners released early,” BBC News, December 1, 2019, https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-50618744. Choudary was also released early in October 2018 with communications and travel restrictions. Officials called for an “urgent” review of Choudary’s conditions following the London Bridge attack.Robert Mendick, Martin Evans, and Charles Hymas, “Anjem Choudary’s licence under ‘urgent’ review in wake of London Bridge attack,” Telegraph (London), December 2, 2019, https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2019/12/02/anjem-choudary-have-licence-conditions-reviewed-emerges-met/.