Man accused of poppy day knife plot 'is chef'

From left to right: Haseeb Hamayoon and cousins Nadir and Yousaf Syed deny the charges against them

A man accused of preparing a terror plot ahead of last year's Remembrance Day says he only bought a knife because he is a chef, a court has heard.

Haseeb Hamayoon, 28, told Woolwich Crown Court he regretted posting material online in favour of the so-called Islamic State extremist group.

He insisted he had no intention of attacking anyone.

He and cousins Nadir and Yousaf Syed deny preparing for acts of terrorism using knives.

But prosecutors say the friends were preparing an attack in the run up to Remembrance Sunday and wanted to copy the Woolwich killing of Fusilier Lee Rigby.

They were allegedly inspired by an Islamic State ruling to its overseas followers last year to carry out attacks on police or other security forces in the West.

'Poppy stamping'

Earlier in the case, the jury saw a large amount of extremist material that the men had shared online, including footage of beheadings in Syria.

The jury had also seen a video of Mr Hamayoon showing off a large new knife bought in London and, separately, a video of his co-defendants stamping on a poppy.

But opening his defence, Mr Hamayoon said he had no plan to attack anyone.

Speaking from the witness box, he acknowledged that he had shared deeply offensive material among a group of online friends.

But he insisted he had only bought a knife because he had trained as a chef and was buying kitchen equipment for his new home he shared with his wife and baby boy.

'Real intention'

"I did not have a plan to harm anyone with a knife," he said. "I was not involved in any plot."

"Did you intend to injure a police officer or soldier or anyone else?" asked Joel Bennathan QC, defending.

"No I did not. My real intention last year was to look after my wife and my son."

Asked about the extremist material he had posted, he said: "I regret making those comments… I apologise for making them."

Mr Hamayoon told the court that he lived in Australia before marrying his British wife - and while he was there he had studied commercial cookery and hospitality management.

Mr Bennathan told the jury that over the course of his evidence, his client would show that his training as a cook was the only reason why he was showing interest in knives.

"The prosecution case must be that his life was going to stop forever [by carrying out an attack]," said Mr Bennathan.

"We say that we have to look at what else he is doing. On the internet, job applications and his relationship with his son and wife. He had no intention that his life was going to stop."

Haseeb Hamayoon, 28, from Hayes, west London, denies preparing for acts of terrorism between 20 September and 7 November last year.

Yousaf Syed, 20, of High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, and Nadir Syed, 22, of Hounslow, west London, deny the same charge.

The trial continues.