A man has appeared in court accused of plotting to assassinate the Prime Minister in a bomb and knife attack on Downing Street.
Naa’imur Zakariyah Rahman, 20, is alleged to have planned to bomb the security gates outside the Westminster residence before attacking Number 10 with a knife and suicide vest in a bid to kill Theresa May.
Rahman has been charged with preparing acts of terrorism and appeared at Westminster Magistrates Court on Wednesday, alongside Mohammed Aqib Imran, 21, who is accused of trying to join Islamic State.
They were arrested in raids by the Met’s Counter Terrorism Command in London and Birmingham on November 28.
Details of the plan were reportedly given to the Cabinet on Tuesday by the head of MI5 Andrew Parker in a briefing in which he revealed that a total of nine Islamist terrorist plots have been thwarted in the UK over the past year.
Rahman, of Ballards Lane, in Finchley, north London, is also charged with assisting Imran in terror planning.
An armed police officer at Downing Street (Dominic Lipinski/PA)
Imran, of Ombersley Road, in the Sparkbrook area of Birmingham, is charged with preparing acts of terrorism.
Rahman, who gave his nationality as Bangladeshi-British, appeared in court wearing a grey tracksuit, with long hair, and was represented by Ali Bajwa QC.
Chief magistrate Emma Arbuthnot remanded them in custody to appear at the Old Bailey on December 20.