Terrorist who plotted Bluewater attack to stay in prison after failed parole bid
A convicted terrorist who sued MI5 after claiming they were complicit in torture by the Pakistan intelligence service has been denied release from jail.
Salahuddin Amin was part of a cell which plotted a wave of explosions across the UK - including the Bluewater shopping centre. Amin, from Luton, Beds., was one of five jailed for life at the Old Bailey for conspiracy to cause explosions likely to endanger life. In March 2004, he was living in Pakistan and, following advice from his uncle, surrendered himself voluntarily to the Pakistani authorities. When he was arrested on his arrival in the UK in February 2005, he claimed he had suffered ill treatment in Pakistan and his confession to being a Taliban sympathiser was forced.
The claim was dismissed and he was jailed for life and handed a 16-year sentence in 2007. Now the Parole Board has blocked his release, ruling he still posed a danger to the public. In a summary which also blocked his transfer to an open prison, the panel said: "The panel was not satisfied there has been any material change in Mr Amin’s risk from the risk he presented at the time of his detention in 2004."
Amin told British cops after he was detained in Pakistan that he "had established close personal links with extremists fighting in Afghanistan who were prepared to take their cause beyond its boundaries".
One of the attacks Amin had planned to carry out was on Bluewater shopping centre (PA)Amin is said to have "co-ordinated the training and deployment of his co-conspirators, and put them up in property owned by his family in Pakistan, where he took them to camps in Pakistan where they undertook weapons and explosives training". He also "provided "the formula for the bomb to those making it in England" and said 9/11 had made him “very happy”.
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Along with four other men, Amin was found guilty of planning to trigger explosions in locations including the Bluewater shopping centre, Kent, and London's Ministry of Sound nightclub. Ringleader Omar Khyam, of Crawley, West Sussex, led Anthony Garcia, Jawad Akbar, Waheed Mahmood, and Amin in the plot - which was foiled by MI5.
Amin pictured along with Anthony Garcia and Waheed Mahomood who were also arrested (PA)In jail Amin claimed he "no longer identified with the Taliban cause for Afghanistan which he had once supported". But he was found to have lied to the Parole Panel when they met in September last year. And psychologists said he needed "trauma therapy" if he were to be believed about his treatment in Pakistan before he was deported to the UK.
A spokesperson for the Parole Board said: “We can confirm that a panel of the Parole Board refused the release of Salahuddin Amin following an oral hearing. The panel also refused to recommend a move to open prison.
“Parole Board decisions are solely focused on what risk a prisoner could represent to the public if released and whether that risk is manageable in the community. A panel will carefully examine a huge range of evidence, including details of the original crime, and any evidence of behaviour change, as well as explore the harm done and impact the crime has had on the victims.
“Members read and digest hundreds of pages of evidence and reports in the lead up to an oral hearing. Evidence from witnesses such as probation officers, psychiatrists and psychologists, officials supervising the offender in prison as well as victim personal statements may be given at the hearing.
"It is standard for the prisoner and witnesses to be questioned at length during the hearing which often lasts a full day or more. Parole reviews are undertaken thoroughly and with extreme care. Protecting the public is our number one priority. "Under current legislation he will be eligible for a further review in due course. The date of the next review will be set by the Ministry of Justice.”
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