Rapper gets jailed for life in plotting solo attack

Sahayb Abu, 27, a rapping jihadist from Dagenham in east London has been jailed for life after plotting a solo terrorist attack weeks after he had been released from prison. He bought a gladiator-style sword, balaclava and combat vest as he prepared his attack during the pandemic last summer.
He was arrested on July 9 after discussing guns with an undercover police officer on a group for Islamic State supporters on the encrypted messaging app Telegram. Abu had previously been jailed for breaking into a jeweller’s in a suspected effort to raise finances to travel abroad for terrorism.
Abu denied preparing an act of terrorism when he appeared at the Old Bailey and claimed the weapons and clothing were for use in a rap video. However, jurors found him guilty last month and he jailed for life and ordered to serve a minimum of 19 years.
His brother, Muhamed Abu, of south London, was cleared of failing to tell the authorities about the plot. Abu’s brother, sister and brother-in-law had been linked to extremism, who were jailed for collecting and disseminating terrorist documents. In 2015 his half- brothers Wail and Suleyman Aweys joined Isis in Syria, where they are both believed to have been killed.
Sentencing Abu, Judge Mark Dennis QC said that “he of all people should have learnt from the fate of his younger brothers and jailed relatives. Instead, within weeks of your own release from prison you had sought out and joined other extremists committed to supporting and promoting that same violent cause, and within no time you were getting ready to carry out your own act of violence on the streets of this country,” the judge said, praising the police for their investigation.
Lyrics sent to his brother before his arrest included: “Man I shoot up a crowd cos I’m a night stalker, got my shank got my guns straight Isis supporter, reject democracy.”
The judge said that Abu had “actively done things” to prepare for an imminent attack. As he was sent down to begin his sentence, Abu addressed the judge, saying: “Thank you very much.”