Terror accused 'hero-worshipped Paris attacker'

Walid Saadaoui (left), Bilel Saadaoui (centre) and Amar Hussein (right) are on trial for terrorism offences

One of two men accused of plotting to kill Jewish people in Manchester "hero-worshipped" the man behind the 2015 Paris attack in which 130 people were killed, a court has heard.

Walid Saadaoui and Amar Hussein, both from Wigan, deny preparing acts of terrorism between December 2013 and May 2024.

It is alleged they "arranged for the purchase and delivery of firearms, conducted reconnaissance and made plans of attack".

The jury at Preston Crown Court heard the pair's alleged plan - to get weapons and ammunition ready and identify a mass gathering of Jewish people they could attack - was thwarted by an undercover police operative.

'Undercover operative'

It is alleged that Mr Saadaoui had smuggled rifles and ammunition into the UK when he was arrested and was waiting for more to be delivered.

The court heard images of the Manchester Jewish Museum were found on Mr Hussein's phone, one of the outside of the building and one of the interior.

The prosecution said they planned attacks with a third man called Farouk who they thought shared their extremist views.

But the court heard that Farouk was actually an undercover operative and through their communication with him the police were able to stop their plans.

Harpreet Sandhu KC, continuing his prosecution opening, told the jury Mr Saadaoui's Facebook posts praised the actions of Abdelhamid Abaaoud, the Belgian-born extremist who organised the Paris attack.

Mr Sandhu said: "The sort of firearms Walid Saadaoui had arranged to have smuggled into the UK were the sort of weapons which had been used to kill 130 people and injure hundreds more in Paris.

"Abaaoud's actions were a source of inspiration for Walid Saadaoui. He wanted to replicate what Abaaoud had done. [He] hero-worshipped that terrorist."

Police conducted raids in Wigan as part of the investigation into the alleged terrorist plot

Earlier, Mr Sandhu said Mr Saadaoui used multiple Facebook accounts in false names to praise the "Islamic State group (ISIS)" and threaten Jews.

He said: "What Walid Saadaoui posted leaves no room for doubt that [he] embraced Islamic extremism wholeheartedly and that he condoned and encouraged the use of violence in the name of Islam.

"It is against that background of extremism that [he] planned to do what he so enthusiastically approved of, namely killing as many innocent members of the public as he could."

Mr Sandhu said Mr Saadaoui was "active in spreading the word of ISIS and he encouraged others to spread the word of ISIS".

'£74,000 in safe'

He said Mr Saadaoui used another of his Facebook accounts, in the name of Will Alba, to join a Facebook group page called Manchester Jewish Community.

In it, he allegedly explained he had recently moved to Manchester and had been part of the congregation of a synagogue in Croydon, south London.

The prosecutor said the defendant also joined the Jewish Representative Council of Greater Manchester Facebook group which had contained details of a 'March Against Antisemitism'.

Thousands attended that march on 21 January 2024.

Mr Sandhu said: "Walid Saadaoui was interested in finding similar events to launch an attack with Amar Hussein and do what they dreamed of, and that was killing many Jewish people."

Police were able to thwart their plans as they unknowingly laid bare their scheme to an undercover operative, the court has been told.

Four days after the antisemitism march in central Manchester, Walid Saadaoui was said to have told the undercover agent how the city has the second-biggest congregation of Jews behind London.

He said: "I am participating in Jewish pages as an imposter and went in undercover.

"I see their gatherings and their marches, their condemnations, their meetings and their parliaments.

"God willing we will degrade and humiliate them (in the worst way possible), and hit them where it hurts."

The jury was also shown photographs of £74,000 in cash found in a safe buried in Mr Saadaoui's back garden.

The prosecution told the jury this cash was for his family to use once he had died carrying out an attack.

Mr Saadaoui, from Abram, Wigan, was not in the dock to hear the prosecution continue to outline the case against him.

He and Amar Hussein, from Hindley, Wigan, deny the charges against them.

Another man, Walid's brother, Bilel Saadaoui, denies failing to disclose information about acts of terrorism.

The case continues.