Terrorist guilty of ricin plot
2005-04-13 17:34
London - A suspected al-Qaeda terrorist who killed a police officer has been convicted of plotting to spread the deadly poison ricin in London, Sky News reports.
Kamel Bourgass, 31, is serving a life sentence after being convicted of murdering policeman Stephen Oake in 2003.
The failed Algerian asylum seeker stabbed Oake eight times during a police raid in Manchester - and also knifed three other officers.
At the time Bourgass, who was also known as Nadir Habra, was on the run.
Anti-terror police had discovered his attempts to make ricin and other poisons at a flat in Wood Green, north London, only days earlier.
They had found accurate recipes and ingredients for poisons including ricin, cyanide and botulinum - one of the most toxic substances known to man - and the blueprint for a bomb.
Detectives believe Bourgass had been trained in terror camps in Afghanistan and was specially selected for instruction in making poisons and explosives.
He was on Wednesday convicted at the Old Bailey of a charge of conspiracy to commit a public nuisance "by the use of poisons and explosives to cause disruption, fear or injury".
Four other men were cleared last week of taking part in a conspiracy.
Another man, Mohammed Meguerba, who jumped bail and fled Britain, is awaiting trial in Algeria.
The details of the court proceedings against Bourgass were only revealed on Wednesday after reporting restrictions were lifted.