Men who beat up RE teacher were terrorist suspects
The Security Service had placed a listening device in a car driven by one of the men as part of an investigation into a suspected terrorist network in East London, sources told the Daily Telegraph.
When transcribers went back over a conversation the men had held in the car, they were picked up discussing killing Gary Smith and praising Allah as they drove from the scene after attacking him.
Akmol Hussein, 27, Sheikh Rashid, 27, Azad Hussain, 26, and Simon Alam, 19, all admitted causing grievous bodily harm with intent after ambushing Mr Smith outside his school.
Akmol Hussein was heard setting out the plan to attack Mr Smith, head of religious education at Central Foundation Girls’ School in Bow, east London, saying in a Bangladeshi dialect: ‘This is the dog we want to hit, to strike, to kill.’
‘He’s mocking Islam and he’s putting doubts in people’s minds…How can somebody take a job to teach Islam when they’re not even a Muslim themselves?’ he added.