A Muslim convert plotted a terror attack intent on killing up to 100 people on Oxford Street despite repeated attempts by authorities to de-radicalise him.
Former Royal Mail worker Lewis Ludlow, 27, said he was filled with “animosity and hatred” when he swore allegiance to Islamic State, the Old Bailey heard.
He had 16 meetings and a phone call with officers who were attempting to change his ways over six months before his arrest last April.
One of the meetings was on the same day Ludlow carried out reconnaissance of targets around the capital, taking photographs of Oxford Street and Madame Tussauds.
Ludlow planned to kill up to 100 people in a “ram attack” after being stopped by police at Heathrow Airport in February 2018 as he attempted to board a flight to the Philippines.
The defendant, who called himself “The Eagle” and “The Ghost”, had bought a phone under a false name and wrote down his attack plans, which were later found ripped up in a bin.
He pleaded guilty last year to plotting an attack in the UK and funding IS in the Philippines and appeared at the Old Bailey on Thursday to be sentenced.
Prosecutor Mark Heywood QC set out Ludlow’s past association with extremists in Britain and abroad.
He said the Prevent programme had attempted to engage with Ludlow since November 2008, when his college had raised concern about his religious beliefs and carrying a knife.
In 2010, Ludlow attended a demonstration led by radical preacher Anjem Choudary and his banned Al-Muhajiroun (ALM) group.
Ludlow was arrested by counter-terrorism police on April 18 2018 but refused to explain himself when he was interviewed.