Ex-British PM Tony Blair may have been terrorism target, jury hears

Former British prime minister Tony Blair could have been the target of a terror attack, the jury in a secret trial has heard. Erol Incedal, who is accused of preparing acts of terrorism and possessing a document called how to make a bomb on a memory card, was arrested in September last year, the court heard. His black Mercedes was searched and the jury was told a number of significant items were found including a piece of paper with the address of a home owned by Mr Blair and his wife, Cherie, written on it.

Count 1 does not suggest that Erol Incedal had settled on a specific target or a particular methodology but in the context of the case as a whole and the evidence that I am going to come to, you may think that this address does have some significance.

Prosecutor Richard Whittam QC

During the search of the car it was bugged by officers. The prosecution told the jury it was not clear 26-year-old Incedal had set out a specific target but that he may have been intending to launch either a Mumbai-style attack or to hit a high-profile individual. In 2008 Pakistani terrorists launched co-ordinated bombing and shooting attacks at venues across Mumbai lasting four days and killing 164 people. The case is the first major terror trial to be heard almost entirely in secret, with only a few journalists admitted but unable to report on the proceedings on the grounds of national security. Incedal denies the charges against him.

You will hear that he was actively engaged with another or others who were abroad. The prosecution case is that such engagement was for an act, or acts of terrorism, either against a limited number of individuals of significance, or a more wide-ranging, an indiscriminate attack such as the one in Mumbai.

Prosecutor Richard Whittam QC

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