Ringleader of 'boom, boom, everywhere... kill' plot Irfan Naseer is jailed for life Irfan Naseer, 31, sent four young men to Pakistan for terrorism training Judge describes him as 'skilled bomb maker' and 'driving force' of plan Mr Justice Henriques said: 'Your plot had the blessing of Al Qaeda' Gang of 11 wanted to kill up to 2,000 Britons with eight rucksack bombs Other leaders Irfan Khalid and Ashik Ali sentenced to 20 and 23 years Rahin Ahmed sentenced to 12 years for his role as chief financier Four 'travellers' who went to Pakistan are jailed for 40 months each 'Skilful bomb-maker': Terror ringleader Irfan Naseer (above) has bee jailed for life for planning an attack more devastating than the July 7 bombings The leader of a home-grown terrorist cell who plotted a suicide bomb campaign to rival the 7/7 and 9/11 atrocities has been jailed for life with a minimum term 18 years behind bars today. Irfan Naseer, 31, led an 11-man cell along with Ashik Ali, 28, and Irfan Khalid, 28, which planned to kill up to 2,000 Britons with rucksack bombs. Khalid was jailed for 18 years and must serve 12 years before he can be released on licence. Partially-sighted Ali, wearing a white robe, was handed a prison sentence of 15 years must serve at least 10 before he can be considered for parole. The judge said he did not accept the Ali's portrayal of himself as the group's 'tea boy or runner for others'. In total, the gang were jailed for 90 years and four months. During their trial, it emerged the trio practiced bomb-making at their safe house in Birmingham, put up blackout curtains to hide their activities and drilled through the walls to mask the sound of explosions. They studied the martyrdom video of 7/7 suicide bomber Mohammad Sadique Khan and the extremist sermons of former al Qaeda leader Anwar al-Awlaki, before making their own Jihadi video. In his footage, Naseer said: 'The only thing you will achieve is suicide bombers on your streets, spilling so much blood that you will remember and you will have nightmares for the rest of your lives.' Khalid adds that it was 'revenge for everything... another 9/11' Naseer, a science graduate known as 'Big Irfan' or 'Chubbs' because of his 23-stone weight, was also heard to say: 'Seven or eight different places with timers on at the same time. Boom, boom, boom, everywhere...kill. But the endless bragging of the gang proved their downfall after MI5 agents bugged their cars and the safehouse in Sparkhill. The would-be bombers discussed firearms attacks, running pedestrians over with cars fitted with blades, making explosives out of hair dye and cooking up poisonous handcream. Co-conspirators: Together with Naseer, the cell was led by his 'inseparable' friend Irfan Khalid (left), who boasted the attack was 'another 9/11', and Ashik Ali (right) Naseer also said Westerners deserve to be 'terrorised' because 'they wanna have sex like donkeys on the street'. He adds: 'Why shouldn't we terrorise them, tell me that? You think about it, if someone came in your house, yeah, and started dancing and throughout the night and started basically having orgies and smoking drugs and stuff...you would terrorise them, innit. In one sick exchange, Khalid mimicked Formula One commentator Murray Walker as he joked: 'It's the four suicide bombers driving around ready to take on England.' Partially sighted Ali, dubbed 'The Joker' even compared the group to the bungling terrorists in Chris Morris's comedy film Four Lions, when he quipped to estranged wife 23-year-old Salma Kabal: 'Oh, you think this is a flipping Four Lions. We're one man short.' Mr Justice Henriques today jailed Naseer for life in prison, as the first of the terror cell to be jailed. 'Naseer, Khalid, and Ali were at the core of the terrorist cell, planning, recruiting and funding a planned acts of terrorism', he said. Naseer was the leader, driving force, and the man in charge. He dubbed the trio 'mass murderers' and added: 'There is public abhorrence of this crime'. You, Khalid, and Ali all plotted mass murder. Nothing was going to stop you. Sentencing Khalid to an extended term of 23 years, Mr Justice Henriques said he took into account that he had been found to be in the bottom 2per cent-5per cent in terms of cognitive ability. The judge said Khalid had been under the influence of Naseer, adding: 'The sooner you are separated from him, the better.' Rahin Ahmed was jailed for 12 years for his role as the chief financier for the terrorist cell. The 11-strong terror cell were radicalised by hate preacher al-Awlaki who was killed in a US drone strike just days after their arrests. Their plan had its roots in March 2009, when Naseer and Khalid flew to Pakistan for eight months to take part in terror training. Another seven-month trip began in December 2010, during which the duo filmed martyrdom videos to be aired after their deaths. If they were unable to make viable bombs, they planned a 'Mumbai-style' attack on synagogues armed with automatic weapons including AK47s and blow up British soldiers using suicide vests. The trio funded the plot by pretending to be Muslim Aid charity street collectors Irfan Khalid 18 YEARS Rahin Ahmed 12 YEARS Bahader Ali 6 YEARS Mohammed Rizwan 4 YEARS Mujahid Hussain 4 YEARS Other techniques discussed included smearing poison onto car doors handles and attaching blades to a vehicle so they could mow down pedestrians. One covert recording even caught them making veiled threats about Prime Minister David Cameron and his friends. The cell duped members of the public into donating more than £39,000 to fund their mission by posing as Muslim Aid collectors. Charity bosses received just a fraction of the cash, with the vast majority being kept by the gang to finance their plot. Law graduate Rahin Ahmed, 26, the gang's chief financier, then lost £9,000 of the stolen charity money as they tried to raise further funds through online currency trading. Naseer and Khalid twice visited terrorist training camps in Pakistan, in 2009 and 2010, and were recorded boasting to Ali that their plan had been 'blessed by a top five Al Qaeda operative. Naseer was unable to lug the weapons around and so stayed indoors to hone his bomb-making knowledge. It was Naseer's bulky frame that helped him to work on his bomb-making skills while at training camps in Pakistan He drew up formulae for explosives and began practising making bombs out of sports injury treatment packs. 'Whether your contact was actually top five or a senior Al Qaeda officer is irrelevant', said the judge. Your plot and your actions had the blessing of Al Qaeda, and was indeed to further the aims of Al Qaeda. I conclude you returned a highly trained, skilful terrorist, as would become clear when your bombs making skills were examined. I accept you were an unlikely foot soldier, but returned a highly skilled bomb maker. Plotters: (top left to bottom right) Ishaaq Hussain, Rahin Ahmed, Naweed Ali, Mujahid Hussain, Khobaib Hussain, and Ishaaq Hussain have been implicated in the biggest attack planned on British soil 'for a generation' Safe house: The trio were based at this property in White Street, Birmingham, and used as the headquarters for their terror cell The ringleaders recruited Ali's brother Bahader, 29, Mohammed Rizwan, 34, and Mujahid Hussain, 21, for the bogus charity collections and information gathering. Rizwan, the brother of convicted terrorist Mohammed Irfan, who was jailed in 2008 for a plot to behead a British soldier, passed on tips for avoid detection, including meeting in open spaces and searching for extremist literature in public libraries. As the terrorist plotting grew apace, Naseer recruited four more Muslims at a Birmingham gym to go to Pakistan for terror training. Dubbed the Four Travellers, warehouse workers Shaaq Hussain and Khobaib Hussain, both 21, law student Shahid Khan, 22, and Naweed Ali, 25, were dispatched to the mountains outside Islamabad in August 2011. Explosive: Police uncovered a variety of powders and liquids, including this 'cold pack' in the dingy house Destroying the evidence: Police found this burnt note that detailed the bomb-making process Bomb-making equipment: Police discovered a variety of ordinary domestic equipment including granules to keep material cold (left) and a pharmaceutical syringe (right) But the four men, all recently radicalised, were so horrified by the primitive conditions at the camp that they extremist beliefs 'evaporated', the court heard. Khan called his parents for help, and the quartet were swiftly put on a plan back to the UK. Counter terrorism officers swooped on the safe house in White Street on September 18, 2011, and arrested the leaders after three-months of surveillance. Naseer, Ali, and Khalid were all convicted of engaging in conduct in preparation of terrorist acts following a trial. Naseer, of Doris Road, Sparkhill, who was picked out by the judge as the leader, was jailed for life, to serve a minimum of 18 years behind bars before being considered for parole. Fundraising: Irfan Naseer, Irfan Khalid and Ashik Ali held table top sales in Birmingham where the cash raised would be secretly siphoned off to pay for trips to Pakistan Surveillance: MI5 had been watching the terror group and had planted a bug in their Hinda Civic where they were heard boasting about the atrocity they planned Shopping: Ashik Ali was watched buying curtains from Argos as part the sophisticated spying operation by the British secret services Judge Henriques accepted Ahmed did not know the specifics of the bomb plot, but was happy to bankroll the plans of Naseer, Ahmed and Ali anyway. 'You were funding the first second and third defendants' overall scheme, and knew they had a presence in the UK', he said. You were unaware of the particular action plan. The money was raised and was at the disposal of your co-accused to use as they thought fit. You were no party to the planned bombing campaign, but you were, however, collecting money for an act or acts of terrorism in the UK. The judge noted Ahmed's conduct 'has alienated you from the Muslim community, you having played a leading role in stealing charity money'. Late night: Officers pulled the terrorists over as they drove to a takeaway just before midnight Prosecution: Ashik Ali was taken from the car and is detained along with the two other men who were all found guilty of terrorism offences at Woolwich Crown Court today But his hapless trading on the Forex currency exchange helped to distance him from the centre of the terrorist plot. The judge said his level of engagement with the terrorist group meant he had to be assessed as dangerous. Bahader Ali did not fall into the dangerousness character after resisting the offer to join the terrorist plot. He and Mohammed Rizwan went to the safe house on September 16, 2011, but turned down overtures from Naseer to join the bombing campaign. The judge noted the strength of his marriage contributed to stopping Ali from joining in, having earlier collected money for terrorism. It appears you have the closest of marriages, indeed the best evidence of that is that your brother Ashik Ali told his ex-wife they were trying to recruit you but your wife, or the love for your wife, was an obstacle to any recruitment of you. Police received no intelligence from the Muslim community in Birmingham about the terror cell, even after relatives of four of the gang discovered they had travelled to Pakistan. The only time police were contacted about any of them was over an allegation of aggressive fundraising, concerning their charity street collections. The lack of information raises questions over Prevent, the Home Office's strategy to combat violent extremism, which has police community engagement at its core. Detective Inspector Adam Gough, senior investigating officer in the West Midlands Counter-Terrorism Unit, said the extended families of Ishaaq Hussain, Shahid Khan, Khobaib Hussain and Naweed Ali "became aware" the men had gone to a terror training camp when Khan called home. Although the families immediately pressured them into returning, none contacted police. Police and security services were aware the four were travelling, and they had been recorded talking about getting their families into paradise through their martyrdom. But officers decided against stopping them at that time to preserve the surveillance operation. According to detectives, none of the men received any terror training as they left the camps after a day. Assistant Chief Constable Marcus Beale said that while the "ideal" scenario would have been for the relatives to inform police of what had happened, the families had "tried to do their best to bring them back and stop them from getting into harm." Scam: CCTV shows Rahin Ahmed depositing charity money they had fraudulently taken at a Barclays Bank in Moseley, Birmingham Trips: Khobaib Hussain and Naweed Ali are shown here sitting and waiting for a flight from Birmingham Airport Mujahid Hussain, who was recruited through Ahmed, was given credit for giving information to police after his arrest. Bahader Ali, of Turner Street, Sparkbrook, was jailed for six years, and Mohammed Rizwan, of Asquith Road, Ward End, was jailed for four years after admitting engaging in conduct in preparation of terrorist acts. Ali was given a four-year sentence for raising money for terrorism, to run concurrently to his six year sentence. Both could be released after half their sentences. Ahmed, of Moorcroft Road, Moseley, admitted engaging in conduct in preparation of terrorist acts and was jailed for 12 years. He will serve half behind bars, and will be subject to an extra five years on licence. Sketch: The group's members Irfan Naseer, Rahin Ahmed and Ashik Ali are pictured (left to right) in court Mujahid Hussain, of Flavells Lane, Yardley, admitted entering into a funding arrangement for the purpose of terrorism, and having information about terrorism. He was jailed for four years. The judge said he would be asking for a judicial commendation for several officers involved in smashing the terror cell. Assistant Chief Constable Marcus Beale said outside court said he was 'really pleased' that the work of his staff in West Midlands Police's counter terrorism unit had been recognised. Mr Beale said: 'Our assessment is that it remains unclear as to what their final target was, there was talk of a number of different places. They aspired to do more than a 7/7 but they were still a period of time away from refining their bomb-making process. They wanted to commit mass murder, they wanted to injure and maim lots of others and inflict a considerable amount of fear and anxiety within our communities. The four travellers who went to Pakistan for terrorist training were been jailed for 40 months each. They were sentenced at the end of a two-hour judgement from Mr Justice Henriques. He said: 'It is a chilling thought that all four of you, unbeknown to your parents, left this country intending to undergo a period of training for terrorism.' The court heard the four men, recent converts to radical Islam, decided to leave the training camp almost immediately after arriving because of the shock of the conditions in the Pakistani mountains. They called their individual parents to arrange flights back to the UK, and have 'had to face the fury of your families', the judge noted. 'The circumstances of you four cases, in my judgement, is most unusual indeed, quite exceptional', he added. Ishaaq Hussain, of Avondale Road, Sparkhill, Shahid Khan, of Lea Road, Sparkhill, Naweed Ali, of Ebelyn Road, Sparkhill, and Khobaib Hussain, of Ebelyn Road, Sparkhill, all admitted engaging in conduct in preparation of terrorist acts. They were sentenced to 40 months in prison, to serve half behind bars. They will also be subject to notification requirements for ten years after release from prison.