A British man accused of plotting a terrorist attack was caught on a bugging device laughing and singing along to violent Jihadist videos in his car, the partly-secret trial heard. Erol Incedal, 26, formerly known in the case as AB, is on trial at the Old Bailey on charges of preparing acts of terrorism and possessing a document entitled Bomb Making on a memory card.
The jury has been told that Incedal was conspiring with others to either target individuals, such as former prime minister, Tony Blair and his wife Cherie, or launch a wide-ranging, indiscriminate attack like the Mumbai massacre in 2008. After he was stopped for a motoring offence on September 30 last year, police planted a bugging device in his car. He was arrested on October 13 last year with Mounir Rarmoul-Bouhadjar, who has admitted possessing a terrorist document.
Today, the jury listened to extracts from the listening device. In one from October 1 last year, Incedal argues with wife Kadeejah Baluch, who he has three children with. When she suggests they should split up, Incedal tells her: "I'm happy with that because I'm never going to be around long anyway so it doesn't make any difference to me." And she replies: "I don't care."
Incedal tells her he will live the last few months of his life with "peace of mind", and she retorts: "Yeah, and I live my life with peace of mind as well."
In a later recording, there are sounds of gunfire, religious music and singing in the background as Incedal discusses Jihadi videos in the car with Rarmoul-Bouhadjar and a man called Ruslan Mamedor, who rented a flat in Sussex Gardens where the defendant was living.
Incedal provides a commentary on the video, and at one point sings along with the words: "Cos we're going to cut their throats, Shia!" He says: "This is once we have taken the area. Look at the enemy, this is all enemies, these bodies. In this operation, they killed approximately 100 kaffar.....They look like zombies. When Mujahadeen die, so much noor on their face...."
In a recording on October 3 last year, Incedal is alone in his black Mercedes listening to a commentary about Osama bin Laden and the 9/11 terrorist attacks. A male narrator describes bin Laden as a "Spartacus character for deprived people" and a "resistance leader" not a terrorist.
Earlier, the court heard how police searched Incedal's home in Unity Court, south-east London, and a second flat in Sussex Gardens near Paddington, which the defendant failed to tell them about when he was arrested. Incedal's wife answered the door to the Unity Court flat when police arrived with a search warrant. She confirmed that her husband was Incedal and said: "He normally lives here but not for the last our days."
During the search, police found a document headed "Plan A" on top of a wardrobe in a bedroom, the court heard. It listed "three to four workers, two tennis racquets, one month's surveillance, rent nearby flat, transport, assess security, assess risk, legitimacy, action etc", prosecutor Richard Whittam QC said.
Other officers searched Incedal's second address in central London where they found evidence of a number of people living there. There were toothbrushes in the bathroom, three pairs of shoes, three beds made up - one with "classy" fake black silk sheets - condoms, and various DVDs of Hollywood films strewn around the flat, the court heard.
Mr Whittam asked crime scene examiner Matt Rogers: "Someone is a Nick Cage fan?" The detective constable, who was giving evidence about the search, replied: "That appears to be the case." Police also found a laptop in a drawer in the bedroom, which the jury has heard contained coded messages referring to a "Mumbai-style" attack and Kalashnikov rifles.
Incedal denies the charges against him. Mounir Rarmoul-Bouhadjar, also 26, from London, who was known as CD, has pleaded guilty to possessing a terrorist document. The trial was adjourned until 10am tomorrow.