Islamic extremist jailed for life over terror attack plan

A British Islamic extremist who idolised Jihadi John has been jailed for life for planning a terror attack on American military personnel in Britain.

Delivery driver Junead Khan, 25, was a "committed supporter" of Islamic State (IS) and plotted to kill a soldier using a "Jihadi John"-style knife.

He used his agency job with a pharmaceutical firm as cover to scout United States Air Force (Usaf) bases in East Anglia for potential victims.

Detectives discovered he had been exchanging chilling online messages with an Islamic State (IS) fighter in Syria calling himself Abu Hussain.

Prosecutors claimed Hussain was British-born fanatic Junaid Hussain, who was killed in a US drone strike in the IS stronghold of Raqqa just weeks after his link with the planned UK attack was discovered.

One message described an attack on military personnel which they compared with the brutal murder of Fusilier Lee Rigby in Woolwich in 2013.

Sentencing him today at London's Kingston Crown Court, Mr Justice Edis said: "Junead Khan was not far from the commission of the murder to be committed by horrifying method in the street in order to create terror and terrorist propaganda in this country.

"His offence was so serious that a life sentence must be imposed."