Islamic State fanatic Matthew King made a comment about ‘beheading an imam’ but claims it was said out of frustration at his cell door being closed, court hears, as he awaits sentencing
Islamic State fanatic Matthew King, 19, has appeared at the Old Bailey to be sentenced for plotting a terror attack on British police officers or soldiers – after a caught heard a comment about ‘beheading an imam’ was said out of ‘frustration’.
King, from Wickford in Essex, has previously pleaded guilty to preparation of terrorist acts between December 22 2021 and May 17 2022.
Matthew King, 19, carried out surveillance at police stations, railway stations, a magistrates’ court and a British Army barracks.
In mitigation, his barrister Hossein Zahir KC said King was ‘immature’ and the prospect he would have carried out a terror attack in the UK or travelled to Syria to join the so-called Islamic State was ‘remote’.
While in custody, King had made a comment about ‘beheading an imam’ but that was said out of frustration at his cell door being closed rather than as a genuine threat, Mr Zahir said.
Matthew King, 19, was alleged to have carried out surveillance at police stations, railway stations, a magistrates’ court and a British Army barracks
Authorities had been tipped off about King through an anti-terrorist hotline and the Prevent counter-terrorism programme after he posted a video on a WhatsApp group on April 13 last year
The barrister argued that despite such incidents of ‘offensive and abusive’ behaviour, King was ‘slowly and steadily’ disengaging from the excesses of extremism.
And in a prison phone call, King told his mother: ‘I’m not extreme anymore.’
Authorities had been tipped off about King through an anti-terrorist hotline and the Prevent counter-terrorism programme after he posted a video on a WhatsApp group on April 13 last year.
In it was an image of a male holding a knife with the words: ‘Those who said that there is no jihad and no battle. They are lying!
‘Our jihad will continue until disappearance until the day of judgment! Now the battle has begun and it will continue until the day of judgment. So take out your sword, O youth, and destroy the kufr.’
King was arrested at his home on May 18 by officers from the Metropolitan Police Counter Terrorism Command and his mobile phone was examined.
Police seized a number of items from King’s home as part of their investigation
After being cautioned, he responded: ‘I don’t believe in the UK law, the only law I believe in is the law of Allah.’
He was subsequently charged with preparing an act of terrorism between December 22 2021 and May 17 2022.
Prosecutors alleged the plot was related to extreme Islamist beliefs and that King carried out surveillance at railway stations, police stations, Stratford Magistrates’ Court in east London and an Army barracks in East Ham, also east London.
Judge Mark Lucraft KC’s sentencing of King at the Old Bailey will be broadcast later.
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