Terror suspect accused of plotting attacks with 'White Widow' set for UK return

17 July 2023 , 21:44
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British citizen Jermaine Grant served nine years in prison (Image: AFP/Getty Images)
British citizen Jermaine Grant served nine years in prison (Image: AFP/Getty Images)

A terror suspect accused of plotting attacks in Kenya with 'White Widow' Samantha Lewthwaite faces being deported back to Britain within days.

Jermaine Grant, 40, is set to be returned to the UK after serving nine years in prison for possessing bomb-making materials and forging immigration papers.

After his arrest at a flat he shared with Lewthwaite in Mombasa, Kenyan police accused him of being involved in a plot against hotels visited by foreign tourists.

A court acquitted him of conspiracy over the alleged plot and he is now free.

Lewthwaite, whose husband Germaine Lindsay was one of the four suicide bombers who killed 52 people in London in 2005, escaped when police caught Grant in 2011.

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Terror suspect accused of plotting attacks with 'White Widow' set for UK returnGrant is due to appear in court in Kenya on Wednesday as prosecutors attempt to have him deported (AFP/Getty Images)

He allegedly warned her with a text, saying: “The lions are inside. One of them is very watchful, like a bird watches a stone.”

Blue-eyed jihadist Lewthwaite, who grew up in Bainbridge, Co Down, and later moved to Aylesbury, Bucks, remains at large. A decade ago, she was put on Interpol’s list of most wanted criminals amid claims she plotted a string of terror attacks.

Dubbed the White Widow, she evaded security services and fled to Africa, where she was linked to scores of atrocities.

Security analysts have previously told the Mirror she is probably being sheltered at a remote location in Somalia or Tanzania, unable to travel from her hiding place for fear of being killed.

Terror suspect accused of plotting attacks with 'White Widow' set for UK returnSamantha Lewthwaite, widow of July 7 bomber Jermaine Lindsay (Sunday Mirror)

Grant is due to appear in court in Kenya tomorrow as prosecutors attempt to have him deported. Prosecutor Bernard Ngiri reportedly lodged an application to remove him as an “unwanted immigrant” following his release last month.

If the High Court judge agrees, he is likely to be returned to the UK this week.

Though he has not been convicted of any offence in the UK, he could be placed under a terrorism prevention and investigation measures, known as TPIMs, which allow the authorities to monitor people considered terrorists.

MI5 advises the Government about who should be subjected to TPIMs.

Suspects can face measures including being made to wear an electronic tag, limits on who they can meet and where they can go, and being placed under curfews.

A Home Office spokesman said: “We do not routinely comment on individual cases.”

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Tom Pettifor

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