It was also revealed that they and two other defendants – Ibrahim Savant, 27, and Umar Islam, 30 – pleaded guilty to the public nuisance charge relating to videos discovered after their August 2006 roundup by British security teams in raids in and around London.
All eight face maximum life sentences on the more severe charges of conspiracy to commit mass murder using explosives disguised in soft-drink bottles. The jury is to weigh that question after the trial comes to a close next week.
British terrorism experts said the unexpected switch to guilty pleas on lesser charges further complicates the trial's outcome and also raises new questions about the gravity of the original threat, which prosecutors say was taking shape against seven specific flights from London's Heathrow Airport to destinations including Toronto, Montreal, Chicago, New York, San Francisco and Washington.
"You have to ask yourself, why would the defendants agree to the insane legal defence of pleading guilty to lesser charges when they face life in prison? That just is not done – and it makes you question the whole case itself," said Bob Ayers, a defence and security expert with the London-based think-tank Chatham House.
http://newageislam.com/u.k.-bomb-plotters-admit--nuisance-/islam,terrorism-and-jihad/d/236
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12:36 AM
Moderate Islamist here
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