A British man who plotted a suicide bomb attack at Heathrow airport on behalf of al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula has been sentenced to 40 years in prison in a court in New York.
Minh Quang Pham, 33, who was extradited to stand trial in the US almost 18 months ago, pleaded guilty earlier this year to charges of providing material support to the terrorist group also known by the acronym AQAP, notably helping them with their recruiting magazine, Inspire.
However, US prosecutors contended that he also received terror training in Yemen personally from Anwar al-Awlaki, the US born radical cleric who was killed by a direct US drone strike ordered by President Barack Obama in 2011. They said he agreed that he would return to Britain and thereafter carry out a suicide attack inside an international arrivals hall at Heathrow.
The sentencing by US District Judge Alison Nathan of Manhattan brings to a close one of the stranger terror cases in the US, not least the contention by a defense lawyer that her client had been obliged to enter a guilty plea because derogatory remarks by Donald Trump, the presidential candidate, about Muslims, meant he could not get a fair trial in America.
Pham, who was born in Vietnam but grew up in Britain where he also converted to Islam, told Judge Nathan he had made “a very serious mistake” when he left a pregnant wife in Britain in 2010 to travel to Yemen to join AQAP and that he “never intended to hurt or harm anybody”.
On his return to Britain in July 2011, Pham was stopped at Heathrow and questioned for having items on his possession including a live, amour-piercing round of ammunition. He was released but then arrested in 2012 on the request of US authorities.
His defense team, led by Bobbi Sternheim, told the court that he never actually intended to carry out the attack as demonstrated by the fact that he did nothing illegal after his return to Britain. But prosecutors insisted that that was because he probably knew he was under surveillance.
“There's no reason why he would tell the truth today other than he fears the imposition of the severe sentence that he deserves,” Assistant US Attorney Anna Skotko told the court, adding that after returning to Britain, Pham had communicated with al-Awlaki by telephone.
Earlier this year, Ms Sternheim wrote a letter to Judge Nathan describing the alleged connection between Mr Trump’s remarks on the campaign trail and the fate of her client. “The defense believes that it will be difficult, if not impossible, to seat a truly impartial New York City jury in the current climate of Islamophobia and hatred of Muslims,” Ms. Sternheim wrote.
Judge Nathan on Friday said she had desisted from giving the full 50 years sought by the prosecution because Pham had denounced the terror group he spent time with. However, the 40 years term was required because of the “horrific bomb plot” laid out by the prosecution.
“Given this, he must face a significantly severe sentence,” she said.
