A failed asylum seeker has been found guilty of trying to break into London's Israeli embassy to launch a knife attack. Abdullah Albadri, 34, planned the attack on the embassy in Kensington, west London, to 'exact revenge' for the killing of children in Gaza, prosecutors said.
The Kuwaiti-born migrant was tackled by armed police after he leapt up an embassy fence armed with two four inch knives last May. He was found guilty at the Old Bailey on Friday of preparation of terrorist acts and possession of two bladed articles, and will be sentenced at a later date.
The court heard how Albadri was refused asylum after he twice entered the UK in small boats in 2021 and April 2023. He was born into the stateless Arabian Bedoon tribe and said he had been jailed and mistreated for campaigning for human rights in Kuwait.
On April 28 last year, he was captured on CCTV walking for an hour from Kilburn to the embassy. Just before 6pm, he arrived outside the embassy in Kensington Palace Gardens, made a gesture like a salute and jumped up the 8ft high metal fence. Within seconds, two armed diplomatic protection officers pulled him to the ground.
On police body-worn video, Albadri indicated he had 'got my weapons'. Two red-handled 4in long knives with serrated blades were seized along with pieces of paper including a 'martyrdom note'. He told police: 'I wanna make a crime inside there.' The defendant later denied preparing to commit an act of terrorism, saying the knives were for 'personal use' as he was homeless.
