Saajid Badat pleads guilty to shoebombing
28 February 2005 - SACC
Saajid Badat, a 25 year old man from Gloucester, admitted plotting to blow up a passenger plane in midair with an explosive device hidden in his shoe. But four days after he was given the device in December 2001, he had a change of heart and backed out of the mission. The prosecution said that device was identical to that used by Richard Reid when he attempted to bring down an aircraft in December 2001 on a flight from Paris to Miami, Saajid Badat is the first person to be convicted in Britain of involvement in a "al-Qaida-style" terrorist plot, despite around 700 arrests under the Terrorism Act 2000, and a handful of convictions for minor offences under the Act. He will be sentenced on 18 March.
