Westminster Knife Attacker Khalid Ali Jailed 40 Years

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An al-Qaida bomb-maker who plotted a knife attack on MPs and police outside the Houses of Parliament has been handed three life sentences with a minimum term of 40 years.

Khalid Ali, 28, had three knives when he was arrested by armed police in Parliament Square in April 2017 following surveillance by counter-terrorism police.

Ali, a plumber, had been tracked by police since he returned from Afghanistan, where he spent five years making Taliban bombs used to maim and kill coalition troops.


In late 2016, the FBI matched his fingerprints to those on two caches of explosives recovered in 2012.

Following an Old Bailey trial in June, Ali was found guilty of preparing terrorist acts in Britain and two charges of possessing explosive substances with intent abroad.

Sentencing, Judge Nicholas Hilliard QC handed Ali three life sentences.

He gave a minimum of 40 years for making IEDs for the Taliban in 2012 and 25 years for the plot to kill in Britain and attract “maximum publicity and instil terror”.