JURIST - Paper Chase: UK court rejects appeal by convicted London bombing plotters

[JURIST] The UK Court of Appeal Wednesday rejected an appeal [text] by four men convicted for plotting the failed bomb attacks on London's subway and bus systems [JURIST news archive] on July 21, 2005, two weeks after a similar attack [JURIST news archive] killed 52 people. In 2005, Hussein Osman, Muktar Said Ibrahim, Yassin Omar, and Ramzi Mohamed were all found guilty [JURIST report] of conspiracy to commit murder and sentenced to life imprisonment. The men said that the failed bomb plot had actually been a hoax, an argument rejected by the judges.

In November 2007, a UK judge sentenced [JURIST report] a fifth man, Manfo Kwaku Asiedu [BBC profile], to 33 years' imprisonment for his role in the failed bomb attacks. Asiedu pleaded guilty [JURIST report] to a charge of conspiracy to cause explosions and the prosecution agreed to drop the charge of conspiracy to murder. In a 2006 trial, the jury failed to reach a verdict against Asiedu [JURIST reports]. During the trial, Asiedu testified against his co-conspirators, undermining their defense that the plot was a hoax. Reuters has more.

For a one-stop snapshot of the latest legal news that matters, with breaking documents, new legal videos, live law-related webcasts, commentary by expert law professors and more - all updated through the day in real time, with no ads and no registration barriers - visit JURIST's homepage and check back often...