British jihad suspect ‘sang about slitting throats’

A court artists sketch of Erol Incedal on trial at the Old Bailey in London. Picture: PA

Erol Incedal, 26, is on trial at the Old Bailey on charges of preparing acts of terrorism and possessing a document entitled “Bomb Making” on a memory card.

The jury has been told that Incedal was conspiring with others to either target individuals, such as former prime minister Tony Blair and his wife Cherie, or launch a wide-ranging, indiscriminate attack like the Mumbai massacre in India in 2008.

After he was stopped for a motoring offence on 30 September last year, police planted a bugging device in his car. He was arrested on 13 October last year with Mounir Rarmoul-Bouhadjar, who has admitted possessing a terrorist document.

Yesterday the jury listened to extracts from the listening device. In one from 1 October last year, Incedal argues with wife Kadeejah Baluch, with whom he has three children.

When she suggests they should split up, he tells her: “I’m happy with that because I’m never going to be around long anyway so it doesn’t make any difference to me.”

Incedal tells her he will live the last few months of his life with “peace of mind”.

In a later recording, there are sounds of gunfire, religious music and singing as Incedal discusses jihadi videos in the car with Rarmoul-Bouhadjar and a man called Ruslan Mamedor, who rented a flat where the defendant was living.

Incedal provides a commentary on the video, and at one point sings along with the words: “Cos we’re going to cut their throats, Shia!”

He adds: “Look at the enemy, this is all enemies, these bodies. In this operation they killed approximately 100 kuffar [unbelievers]. They look like zombies. When mujahideen die, so much noor [light] on their face.”

In a recording on 3 October last year, Incedal is alone in his black Mercedes listening to a commentary about Osama bin Laden and the 9/11 terrorist attacks. A male narrator describes Bin Laden as a “Spartacus character for deprived people” and a “resistance leader”.

Earlier, the court heard how police searched Incedal’s home in south-east London, and a second flat near Paddington, which the defendant failed to tell them about when he was arrested.

Incedal’s wife answered the door to the family’s flat when police arrived with a search  warrant. She confirmed that her husband was Incedal and said: “He normally lives here.”

During the search, police found a document headed “Plan A” on top of a wardrobe in a bedroom, the court heard. It listed “three to four workers, two tennis racquets, one month’s surveillance, rent nearby flat, transport, assess security, assess risk, legitimacy, action etc”, said prosecutor Richard Whittam QC.

Other officers searched Incedal’s second address in central London, where they found evidence of a number of people living there. There were toothbrushes in the bathroom, three pairs of shoes, three beds made up – one with “classy” fake black silk sheets – condoms and DVDs of Hollywood films strewn around the flat.

Mr Whittam asked crime scene examiner Matt Rogers: “Someone is a Nic Cage fan?” The detective constable replied: “That appears to be the case.”

Police also found a laptop in a drawer in the bedroom, which the jury has heard contained coded messages referring to  a “Mumbai-style” attack and  Kalashnikov rifles.

Incedal denies the charges against him. Mounir Rarmoul-Bouhadjar, also 26, from London, has pleaded guilty to possessing a terrorist document.

The trial continues.