A MAN HAS pleaded guilty to plotting a terror attack in central London aiming to kill more than 100 people.
Lewis Ludlow (26) planned to hire a van and drive it into pedestrians on the pavement on Oxford Street at the busiest time of the week.
He had also considered attacking Madame Tussauds and St Paul’s Cathedral. When he was arrested in April, Ludlow was under 24-hour armed police surveillance.
A mobile phone belonging to Ludlow, who had converted to Islam, was found in the storm drain of his home and contained photographs he had taken in March on a trip to London.
The prosecution said those photographs constituted hostile reconnaissance in the capital. The phone also contained a picture of a handwritten oath of allegiance to the terrorist group Daesh (Islamic State).
The same phone also contained three short videos in which Ludlow calls himself “the Eagle” and states his hatred of unbelievers, the desire to establish Sharia law, and describes himself as a soldier of Daesh.
‘Serious danger’
A number of torn-up notes were recovered which suggested that Ludlow was actively involved in preparing a terrorist attack, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said.
One of the notes included information about the cost of hotels near Oxford Street where he planned to stay before the attack as well as the renting of a van.
Ludlow, from Rochester, also pleaded guilty to setting up Facebook and Paypal accounts which he used to fund Daesh fighters based in the Philippines.
The Facebook account was called ‘Antique Collections’ and appeared to be a legitimate business selling antiques. Members of the public could make payments to the site via Paypal. Ludlow transferred around £120 (about €135) to a radicalised medic living in the Philippines.
Deb Walsh from the CPS said Ludlow “considers himself a soldier fighting for Daesh in the UK”.
To that end he planned to drive a van into shoppers at Oxford Street hoping to kill over 100 people. He also set up a fake online antiques business as a front to send money to terrorists overseas.
“He is a serious danger to the public and accepted his guilt when faced with the prosecution’s case against him.”
Ludlow will be sentenced on 2 November at the Old Bailey. Both police and MI5 had been investigating the case.
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