Police killer and his plot to poison Britain

• Al-Qaeda suspect jailed for policeman's murder during arrest for poison plot

• Kamel Bourgass planned attack on buildings and consumer goods in London

• Laboratory to make ricin, cyanide and botulinum found at his home

Key quote

"These were no playtime recipes. These are recipes that experts give credence to and experiments show work. They are scientifically viable and potentially deadly" - Nigel Sweeney, QC

Story in full AN AL-QAEDA suspect has been jailed for murdering a Special Branch detective and plotting to terrorise Britain with the deadly poison ricin, it was revealed yesterday.

Police believe Kamel Bourgass, 31, a failed Algerian asylum-seeker, planned to smear poison on door handles of cars and buildings in London and to use it in a spray or to contaminate consumer products.

His home-made chemical weapons laboratory, in a flat in Wood Green, north London, included recipes and ingredients to make ricin, cyanide and botulinum - one of the most toxic substances known to man - and a blueprint for a bomb.

Nine days after the discovery, in January 2003, DC Stephen Oake was killed when he was cornered in a flat in Manchester during a botched raid.

Described as a "dedicated and dangerous" terrorist, Bourgass was yesterday jailed for 17 years for plotting to make poisons and explosives.

It was also revealed yesterday that Bourgass was sentenced to life imprisonment following a trial last year for the murder of DC Oake and a further 15 years for the attempted murder of two police officers.

Last night, the Tories criticised the government, blaming its "chaotic" asylum policy for the failure to deport Bourgass after his application for asylum was finally rejected in 2001. David Davis, the shadow home secretary, described the killing of DC Oake as a "tragedy" which should not have happened.

Police believe Bourgass was part of a network of hundreds of Algerian terrorists spread across the West, thought to be linked to terror plots in the United States, France, Spain and Italy.

Peter Clarke, head of Scotland Yard’s Anti-Terrorist Branch, said: "This was a hugely serious plot because what it had the potential to do was to cause real panic, fear, disruption and possibly even death to the public."

During the trial, it was revealed that scientists at the Porton Down chemical warfare laboratories in Wiltshire later followed the poison instructions found in Bourgass’ flat. Their experiments produced enough ricin and cyanide to kill hundreds of people.

Nigel Sweeney, QC, prosecuting, told the Old Bailey: "These were no playtime recipes. These are recipes that experts give credence to and experiments show work. They are scientifically viable and potentially deadly."

Jailing Bourgass yesterday, Mr Justice Penry-Davey said: "You were, on the evidence, the prime mover in a terrorist operation involving the use of poisons and explosives, and intended to destabilise the community in this country by causing destruction, fear and injury."

But Bourgass was not convicted of conspiracy to commit murder, and eight other north Africans were cleared of any role in the plot, in a setback that has led to criticisms of the Crown Prosecution Service and the police.

Gareth Peirce, solicitor for three of the cleared men, said the case had been wrongly used to boost the argument for war in Iraq. On the eve of the US and British invasion there, former US Secretary of State Colin Powell appeared to tell the United Nations that the London ricin plot was linked to Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, a leading militant in Iraq.

Ms Peirce said: "There was a great deal that this country was led to believe that in part caused it to go to war on Iraq, erected on the basis of an alleged major conspiracy involving ricin. It is appropriate that that now is revisited."

But Home Secretary Charles Clarke denied the case was an "embarrassment" for the government. Mr Clarke said: "I think that firstly this is an illustration of the fact that terrorist organisations exist and are seeking to damage our lives.

"Secondly it has to urge us on to find better ways of dealing with the threat that they have. We will obviously keep a very close eye on the eight men being freed today, and consider exactly what to do in the light of this decision."

The trial of Bourgass for murder and attempted murder, and the second trial which ended last Friday, have been subjected to reporting restrictions because he was seen as the plot’s "prime mover" and would have affected a third trial which collapsed yesterday.

None of the trials or convictions could be reported until yesterday because of concerns over prejudicing proceedings.

The chain of events which led to Scotland Yard and the security services foiling his ricin plot began when a nationwide series of anti-terrorist raids was launched in the late spring of 2002.

Intelligence services were aware that Islamic fundamentalists, including many who had fled the US-led assault in Afghanistan, were using Britain as a base to raise money for terrorists abroad. The attempt to break the network led to more than 100 arrests, with investigations stretching from Bournemouth to Edinburgh.

They followed a trail of suspects’ false documents and, in September 2002, found a copied set of recipes for ricin, cyanide, other poisons and a plans for a bomb at an address in Norfolk.

A police source said: "Finding the ricin recipe in Thetford was a threshold, a defining moment. This was a very clear indicator that we were looking at operational terrorists as well as people supporting terrorist groups."

But the key breakthrough came in December 2002, after a tenth alleged co-conspirator, an Algerian called Mohamed Meguerba, revealed details when he was arrested in Algeria. He said he had known Bourgass in London.

Meguerba confessed to being a veteran of terrorist training camps in Afghanistan and to having had numerous personal meetings with al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden.

He claimed that Bourgass had also been in a mujahideen training camp in Afghanistan and was then selected for training in the making of poisons at an al-Qaeda camp.

Bourgass, also known as Nadir Habra, went on the run after his attempts to make ricin and other poisons were discovered at the flat in Wood Green.

When he was finally caught, by chance, after a raid in a house in Manchester where police were looking for another suspect, his role in the plot - and his desire to escape - became desperately apparent.

Bourgass grabbed hold of a kitchen knife and killed DC Oake, stabbing him eight times. He also knifed three other policemen during his bloody escape bid.

Despite the best efforts of the intelligence services both in Britain and abroad, it is impossible, even now, to be sure of Bourgass’s real identity and investigations continue into who he is.

He had numerous false identities and at various times claimed to be from Tunisia, Morocco and Algeria, giving police dates of birth between 1973 and 1975.