Image copyright Julia Quenzler Image caption Safaa Boular was "sincere and determined" in her intentions, prosecutors said

A teenage girl plotted a gun and grenade attack at the British Museum after her attempts to become a jihadi bride were thwarted, a court has heard.

Safaa Boular was 17 when she allegedly decided to be a "martyr" after her Islamic State fighter fiancé was killed in Syria, the Old Bailey was told.

Ms Boular, now 18, denies two counts of preparing acts of terrorism.

Her sister Rizlaine Boular, 21, has admitted planning an attack with knives in Westminster.

She was given assistance and support by her mother, Mina Dich, the jury was told.

Image copyright Met Police Image caption Mina Dich (left) provided assistance and support to her daughter Rizlaine Boular, court heard

Prosecutor Duncan Atkinson QC said Safaa Boular, who lived with her mother in Vauxhall, London, wanted to "unleash violence and terror in the heart of London".

But Joel Bennathan QC, representing Ms Boular, said the teenager had been "sexually groomed" and "groomed to be radicalised" online by IS fighter Naweed Hussain.

He said her family had "encouraged" and "celebrated" it.

Mr Atkinson said she declared her love for Hussain in August 2016 after three months of chatting on social media.

The prosecutor told jurors she wanted to join Hussain in Syria where they would wear suicide belts and, in Hussain's words, "depart the world holding hands and taking others with them".

The court heard Rizlaine Boular had also tried to go to Syria two years before.

'Cultural jewel'

After Safaa Boular's plan was uncovered, she allegedly switched her attention to Britain, contacting Hussain by phone through encrypted Telegram chat.

But British security services had deployed officers to engage in online communication with the pair, jurors heard.

Mr Atkinson said: "It was clear that Hussain had been planning an act of terrorism with Safaa Boular in which she could engage if she remained in this country. Both Hussain and Safaa Boular talked of a planned ambush involving grenades and or firearms."

She also told an officer posing as an IS fighter that all she needed was a "car and a knife to get what I want to achieve", the court heard.

Mr Atkinson said: "Based on her preparation and discussion, it appears she planned to launch an attack against members of the public selected largely at random in the environs of that cultural jewel and most popular of tourist attractions, the British Museum in central London."

'Chilling intentions'

An attack would have created at least "widespread panic" and was intended to cause injury and death, it was claimed.

When she learned Hussain had been killed in April 2017, Ms Boular's determination was strengthened, the court heard.

But within days, she was charged with planning to go to Syria so was unable to carry out her "chilling intentions", the prosecutor said.

He said: "That those intentions were not just chilling but sincere and determined is demonstrated by the fact that she did not abandon them even when she was unable to put them into effect herself.

'Carry torch forward'

"Rather, she sought to encourage her sister Rizlaine to carry the torch forward in her stead."

In calls to her sister from jail, Safaa Boular referenced an Alice in Wonderland-themed tea party which was code for an attack, the court heard.

Mr Atkinson told jurors the older sibling had admitted preparing acts of terrorism.

Rizlaine Boular spent three days carrying out reconnaissance of major landmarks in Westminster and bought knives and a rucksack, the court heard.

Based on her reconnaissance and discussion, it appears she planned a knife attack in Westminster, Mr Atkinson said.

She was arrested on 27 April last year, the day of the planned attack, the court heard.

Safaa Boular's trial continues.</s>LONDON (AP) — A London teenager is on trial for allegedly plotting a grenade attack on the British Museum after failing in her ambition of becoming a jihadi bride in Syria.

Prosecutors say Safaa Boular plotted the attack in messages exchanged with an Islamic State group fighter. She hoped to marry him, but he was killed in 2017.

Prosecutor Duncan Atkinson said Thursday that Boular planned to "unleash violence and terror in the heart of London" by attacking the world-famous museum.

Atkinson said after Boular was arrested for trying to travel to Syria, she tried to enlist her 21-year-old sister Rizlaine to carry out an attack.

Rizlaine Boular has admitted planning an attack and has pleaded guilty to charges. The sister's mother, Mina Dich, is also accused of assisting her.</s>LONDON — A London teenager went on trial Thursday for allegedly plotting a grenade attack on the British Museum after failing in her ambition of becoming a jihadi bride in Syria.

Prosecutors say Safaa Boular plotted the attack in messages exchanged with an older Islamic State group fighter in Syria. She hoped to marry him, but he was killed in 2017.

Prosecutor Duncan Atkinson told jurors at London's Central Criminal Court that Boular planned to "unleash violence and terror in the heart of London" by attacking the world-famous museum.

Atkinson said after Boular was arrested in April 2017 for trying to travel to Syria, she tried to enlist her 21-year-old sister Rizlaine to carry out an attack. In phone calls from prison, she used code words that referred to an attack as an "Alice In Wonderland"-themed tea party, the prosecutor said.

He said Rizlaine and the siblings' mother, Mina Dich, carried out reconnaissance around major London landmarks and bought a pack of knives and a knapsack. The pair were arrested later the same month.

Rizlaine Boular has admitted planning an attack and has pleaded guilty to the charges. Dich is accused of assisting her.</s>A teenager, her sister and mother plotted to launch terror attacks in London, spurred on by an ISIS recruiter in Syria, a court has heard.

In Britain's first all-female terrorist plot, Safaa Boular, 18, from Vauxhall, South London, is accused planning an attack on the British Museum.

She was encouraged by her mother and sister, the Old Bailey was told, who took up her plans when she was jailed, plotting to launch an attack near the Houses of Parliament.

Boular had allegedly planned to wear a suicide belt in Syria with her ISIS-fighter husband and 'depart the world holding hands, and taking others with them in an act of terrorism,' the Old Bailey was told.

But when he was killed in Syria, she switched her plans to Britain.

It is claimed that she conducted a relationship with Naweed Hussain, with a view to marrying him, and made plans to travel to Syria by booking a flight to Istanbul.

Her support for him 'would extend to each of them donning a suicide belt,' Duncan Atkinson QC told the court.

'Together they would, as Hussain put it, "depart this world holding hands and taking others with them" in an act of terrorism,' he said.

When he was killed on April 4 last year, she allegedly arranged to receive weapons in order to conduct an attack in the UK, and received instructions on how to train and use weapons.

Mr Atkinson, told the Old Bailey: 'Based on her preparation and discussion, it appears she planned to launch an attack against members of the public, selected largely at random, in the environs of that cultural jewel and most popular of tourist attractions, the British Museum, in central London.

'This would have been an attack that would, at the very least have caused widespread panic, but was intended to involve the infliction of serious injury and death.'

The prosecutor added: 'Whilst Naweed Hussain had undoubtedly done much to encourage Safaa Boular in these plans, the intention underlying those plans was always hers. She was encouraged, but she was willing; she was supported but she was resolute.

'Her determination in this regard was, if anything, strengthen after she learned that Naweed Hussain had been killed on April 4 2017.

'With positive encouragement from her mother and her sister, Rizlaine, Safaa wanted to reunited with her fiancee in paradise by becoming a martyr.

On April 12 last year she was charged with planning to get to Syria and so was 'not at liberty to put her chilling intentions into practice herself,' Mr Atkinson said.

'However, that those intentions were not just chilling but sincere and determined is demonstrated by the fact that she did not abandon them even when she was unable to put them into effect herself. Rather, she sought to encourage her sister Rizlaine, to carry the torch forward in her stead.'

Safaa Boular denies two charges of preparing acts of terrorism between January 1 2016 and April 13 2017.

Her mother, Mina Dich, 44, and sister Rizlaine Boular, 22, pleaded guilty in February to conspiracy to murder a person or persons unknown, between April 11 and April 28, contrary to section one of the Criminal Law Act 1977.

They were also accused of preparing acts of terrorism contrary to section five of the Terrorism Act 2006.</s>A teenage girl plotted to launch a gun and grenade attack on the British Museum after her attempts to become a jihadi bride were thwarted, a court heard.

Safaa Boular was 17 when she allegedly decided to become a “martyr” after her fiance, an Islamic State militant, was killed in Syria.

She was so determined to attack London that she enlisted the help of her older sister after she was charged with planning to go to Syria, the Old Bailey heard on Thursday.

Rizlaine Boular, 21, had already admitted planning an attack in Westminster, that was allegedly to involve knives, with the alleged help of their mother, Mina Dich, 43, the jury was told.

Duncan Atkinson QC, prosecuting, told how Safaa Boular’s alleged plotting followed a failed attempt to marry the Isis member Naweed Hussain.

The couple declared their love for each other in August 2016, after three months of chatting on social media, the court heard.

Atkinson told jurors Boular wanted to join Hussain in Syria where they would carry out an attack. He said: “Their plan then was that together they would, as Hussain put it, depart the world holding hands and taking others with them in an act of terrorism.”

The court heard Rizlaine Boular had also tried to go to Syria two years before.

After Safaa Boular’s plan was uncovered, she allegedly switched her attention to Britain, keeping contact with Hussain through the encrypted messaging service Telegram.

The security services deployed specially trained officers to engage in online communication with them, jurors heard.

Atkinson said: “It was clear that Hussain had been planning an act of terrorism with Safaa Boular in which she could engage if she remained in this country. Both Hussain and Safaa Boular talked of a planned ambush involving grenades and/or firearms.”

She also told an officer posing as an Isis militant that all she needed was a “car and a knife to get what I want to achieve”, the court heard.

Atkinson said: “Based on her preparation and discussion, it appears she planned to launch an attack against members of the public selected largely at random in the environs of that cultural jewel and most popular of tourist attractions, the British Museum in central London.”

An attack would have caused at least widespread panic and was intended to cause injury and death, the court was told.

When she learned Hussain had been killed in April 2017, Boular’s determination was strengthened, the court heard. She was allegedly encouraged by her mother and sister to become a “martyr”.

But within days, she was charged with planning to go to Syria and was unable to carry out her “chilling intentions”, Atkinson told the court.

He said: “However, that those intentions were not just chilling but sincere and determined is demonstrated by the fact that she did not abandon them even when she was unable to put them into effect herself. Rather, she sought to encourage her sister Rizlaine to carry the torch forward in her stead.”

Atkinson told jurors that Rizlaine Boular, of Clerkenwell, central London, had admitted preparing acts of terrorism, which was apparently to be a knife attack in Westminster.

Safaa Boular, now 18, who lived at home with her mother in Vauxhall, south-west London, denies two counts of preparing acts of terrorism.</s>A teenage girl plotted a gun and grenade attack at the British Museum after her attempts to become a jihadi bride were thwarted, a court has heard.

Safaa Boular was 17 when she allegedly decided to be a "martyr" after her Islamic State fighter fiancé was killed in Syria, the Old Bailey heard.

Ms Boular, now 18, denies two counts of preparing acts of terrorism.

Her sister Rizlaine Boular, 21, has admitted planning an attack with knives in Westminster.

Prosecutor Duncan Atkinson QC said Safaa Boular, who lived with her mother in Vauxhall, London, declared her love for an IS fighter, Naweed Hussain, in August 2016 after three months of chatting on social media.

Mr Atkinson told jurors she wanted to join Hussain in Syria where they would wear suicide belts and, in Hussain's words, "depart the world holding hands and taking others with them".

The court heard Rizlaine Boular had also tried to go to Syria two years before.

After Safaa Boular's plan was uncovered, she allegedly switched her attention to Britain, contacting Hussain by phone through encrypted Telegram chat.

But British security services had deployed officers to engage in online communication with the pair, jurors heard.

Mr Atkinson said: "It was clear that Hussain had been planning an act of terrorism with Safaa Boular in which she could engage if she remained in this country. Both Hussain and Safaa Boular talked of a planned ambush involving grenades and or firearms."

She also told an officer posing as an IS fighter that all she needed was a "car and a knife to get what I want to achieve", the court heard.

Mr Atkinson said: "Based on her preparation and discussion, it appears she planned to launch an attack against members of the public selected largely at random in the environs of that cultural jewel and most popular of tourist attractions, the British Museum in central London."

An attack would have created at least "widespread panic" and was intended to cause injury and death, it was claimed.

When she learned Hussain had been killed in April 2017, Boular's determination was strengthened, the court heard.

But within days, she was charged with planning to go to Syria so was unable to carry out her "chilling intentions", the prosecutor said.

He said: "That those intentions were not just chilling but sincere and determined is demonstrated by the fact that she did not abandon them even when she was unable to put them into effect herself.

"Rather, she sought to encourage her sister Rizlaine to carry the torch forward in her stead."

Mr Atkinson told jurors the older sibling had admitted preparing acts of terrorism.

Based on her reconnaissance and discussion, it appears she planned a knife attack in Westminster, he said.</s>A teenage jihadi bride plotted a terror attack on London under the guise of an Alice In Wonderland themed tea party, a court has heard.

Safaa Boular was aged 17 when she allegedly decided to be a “martyr” and launch a grenade and gun attack on the British Museum.

Her resolve was strengthened after her Islamic State fiance Naweed Hussain was killed in Syria before she could join him.

While in custody for allegedly attempting to travel to IS territory, she passed on the baton to her older sister Rizlaine Boular, the Old Bailey heard.

In calls from jail, she talked about a “party” with her 21-year-old sibling, which was said to be a code word for a terror attack.

The pair also made reference to a “Mad Hatter” and having an “Alice In Wonderland” themed tea party, jurors heard.

Over the next three days, Rizlaine and her mother Mina Dich, 43, carried out reconnaissance around major landmarks in Westminster and bought a pack of knives and a rucksack, the court heard.

But on April 27 last year – the day of the proposed knife attack around the Palace of Westminster – police swooped to arrest Rizlaine Boular, jurors were told.

Rizlaine Boular, of Clerkenwell, central London, has already admitted planning an attack and with the help and support of Dich, the jury was told.

But Safaa Boular, now 18, who lived at home with her mother in Vauxhall, south west London, has denied two counts of preparing acts of terrorism.

Court artist sketch of Safaa Boular (left) appearing at the Old Bailey in London where she denies two charges of preparing acts of terrorism (Elizabeth Cook/PA)

Opening the Old Bailey trial, prosecutor Duncan Atkinson QC told jurors Safaa Boular planned to “unleash violence and terror in the heart of London”.

He said she was inspired following a failed bid to marry IS fighter Hussain, who was in his 30s.

After just three months chatting on social media, the couple had declared their love for each other, the court heard.

Safaa Boular wanted to marry Hussain and don a suicide belt each, jurors were told.

Mr Atkinson said: “Their plan then was that together they would, as Hussain put it, depart the world holding hands and taking others with them in an act of terrorism.”

But Boular’s aim to travel to Syria accompanied by her sister was scuppered when she was stopped by police at Stansted en route home from a holiday in Morocco in August 2016.

Boular allegedly switched her attention to Britain, keeping contact with Hussain on a secret phone through encrypted Telegram chat.

But British Security Services had deployed specially trained role play officers to engage with the pair online to keep track of their activities.

Both Hussain and Boular talked about an ambush involving Russian-style guns and “pineapples” – code for grenades, jurors heard.

The defendant sobbed when she found out about Hussain’s death in April last year, and was comforted by her sister and mother, who told her “he’s in paradise”.

She told an officer posing as an IS fighter that all she needed was a “car and a knife to get what I want to achieve”, the court heard.

She allegedly confided that she had no time to “lounge around”, adding: “My heart yearns to be reunited with my dear husband for the very first time.”

In encrypted chat, she said Hussain had told her “something about a British Museum and the tokarev and pineapple”, Mr Atkinson said.

Tokarev was said to be a type of Russian gun and pineapple, a code word for grenades.

In a conversation on April 8 last year, Rizlaine Boular allegedly told her: “The bus goes past the British Museum and I thought of you”, in apparent reference to the target.

But on April 12, Safaa Boular was charged with planning to go to Syria so was unable to carry out her “chilling intentions”, Mr Atkinson said.

Instead, she encouraged Rizlaine “to carry the torch forward in her stead” in telephone calls from prison, he said.

Joel Bennathan QC told jurors that Safaa was “groomed” by Hussain, who was twice her age.

In an opening speech, he said: “She was a child who was sexually groomed, someone who was groomed to be radicalised. That’s what happened to this young person.”

He added that her family had “encouraged” and “celebrated” it.</s>A teenager, her sister and her mother all planned to launch a terrorist attack in central London which they dubbed the 'Madhatter's Tea Party', a court has heard.

In Britain's first alleged all-female terrorist plot, Safaa Boular, 18, was arrested as she planned a suicide attack on the British Museum, urged on by an ISIS fighter in Syria that she planned to marry.

After her plan was thwarted last April, she encouraged her older sister, Rizlaine, 22, to take it over.

Rizlaine was taken on a reconnaissance trip by her mother, Mina Dich, 43, who drove her around the major landmarks in the Westminster area, the Old Bailey was told.

The pair went with her to purchase a packet of knives, the largest of which had a 6ins blade, on April 26 last year.

A rucksack was also bought and prosecutors said that was part of preparations for an attack the following day, which they had code-named the 'Madhatter's Tea Party', prosecutor Duncan Atkinson QC told the court.

He said: 'All preparation for Rizlaine's attack followed discussions with her sister who encouraged and supported her every step towards the kind of terrorist outrage that the timely intervention of the authorities had stopped Safaa from undertaking herself.'

In a conversation by telephone from prison, recorded by the authorities, Safaa told her sister: 'I never knew I'd be around at that time but think I will be around at that time peace be upon us, and then the world will rock.'

Rizlaine said: 'It's going to be like me like and a few sisters and stuff and we're just going to have fun. It's basically going to be like a tea party and stuff.'

Mr Atkinson said the pair went on to make several references to jannah [paradise] and 'referred to a Madhatter's Tea Party and Alice in Wonderland.'

'The prosecution alleges that the expression 'party' was being used as code for a terrorist attack,' Mr Atkinson added.

'The significance of these conversations is to demonstrate the extent of Safaa Boular's determination, when talking to her mother and her sister.

'Her sister was doing what she had wanted to do herself, and what she had been actively engaged in planning to do until she was physically prevented from doing so.'

Mina Dich accepts that she provided 'positive assistance and support' to Rizlaine in the knowledge that she would commit an attack using knives, but claims she did not understand that the attack would involve fatality or injury, the court heard.

Safaa Boular is accused planning an attack on the British Museum, so that she could join her fiancee in paradise.

Boular had allegedly planned to wear a suicide belt in Syria with her ISIS husband and 'depart the world holding hands, and taking others with them in an act of terrorism,' the Old Bailey was told.

But when he was killed in Syria, she switched her plans to Britain.

It is claimed that she conducted a relationship with Naweed Hussain, with a view to marrying him, and made plans to travel to Syria by booking a flight to Istanbul.

After they had been speaking for two or three months they had declared their love for each other and resolved to marry and to have children together, the Old Bailey was told.

'However, there was nothing conventional about their relationship,' Duncan Atkinson QC, prosecuting, said.

Her support for him 'would extend to each of them donning a suicide belt,' he added.

'Together they would, as Hussain put it, 'depart this world holding hands and taking others with them in an act of terrorism.'

When he was killed on April 4 last year, she allegedly arranged to receive weapons in order to conduct an attack in the UK, and received instructions on how to train and use weapons.

Mr Atkinson, told the Old Bailey: 'Based on her preparation and discussion, it appears she planned to launch an attack against members of the public, selected largely at random, in the environs of that cultural jewel and most popular of tourist attractions, the British Museum, in central London.

'This would have been an attack that would, at the very least have caused widespread panic, but was intended to involve the infliction of serious injury and death.

'Whilst Naweed Hussain had undoubtedly done much to encourage Safaa Boular in these plans, the intention underlying those plans was always hers. She was encouraged, but she was willing; she was supported but she was resolute.

'Her determination in this regard was, if anything, strengthen after she learned that Naweed Hussain had been killed on April 4 2017.

'With positive encouragement from her mother and her sister, Rizlaine, Safaa wanted to reunited with her fiancee in paradise by becoming a martyr.'</s>A British teen allegedly attempted to form an all-female terrorist group with plans to launch a gun and grenade attack on landmark buildings in London, according to court reports.

Safaa Boular, who was 17 at the time, allegedly looked to become a "martyr" and marry an Islamic State militant she had met online.

Boular, now 18, denied her involvement in the terrorist plots during a hearing Thursday at the Central Criminal Court of England and Wales in London.

Her plans, however, were thwarted when police learned of Boular's plan to travel to Syria to meet her fiance Naweed Hussain.

She allegedly looked to enlist her mother and sister in a plot to attack the British Museum and the Palace of Westminster, according to BBC News.

When she was arrested for an attempt to travel to Syria to marry Hussain, Boular then passed along her plan to her sister and mother to carry out.

Rizlaine Boular, 21, confessed to organizing an alleged knife attack in Westminster on April 27, 2017, with help and support from her mother Mina Dich, 44, the jury was told. Police foiled the plan and arrested them both.

Safaa Boular had announced her love for Hussain in August 2016 after talking online with him for three months, prosecutor Duncan Atkinson told the court. He added that she had a desire to join Hussain in Syria where they would carry out terrorist attacks.

Safaa Boular reportedly talked about her terrorist plot with Hussain through a secret encrypted Telegram chat. But British Security Services, with the use of specially-trained "role play" officers, bugged their phone and heard the two laughing about the Westminster attack in March 2016.

"It was clear that Hussain had been planning an act of terrorism with Safaa Boular in which she could engage if she remained in this country. Both Hussain and Safaa Boular talked of a planned ambush involving grenades and or firearms," Atkinson told the court.

Safaa Boular aimed to "unleash violence and terror in the heart of London," with the intention of sparking wide-spread panic, Atkinson said.

"Based on her preparation and discussion, it appears she planned to launch an attack against members of the public selected largely at random in the environs of that cultural jewel and most popular of tourist attractions, the British Museum in central London."

However, Safaa Boular’s attorney, Joel Bennathan QC, argued that she was "sexually groomed" and "groomed to be radicalized." He added that there was no evidence that she intended to plot any attacks.</s>A teenage jihadi bride plotted terror attacks on London landmarks while being held by police after her fiance was killed in Syria, a court has heard.

Safaa Boular was 17 years old when she allegedly planned a grenade and gun attack on the British Museum - and prosecutors say she became more determined after Naweed Hussain was killed in Syria before she had the chance to join him.

The Old Bailey heard she passed the baton on to her older sister Rizlaine Boular, 21, while in custody for allegedly attempting to travel to IS territory.

During phone calls from jail, she is said to have used the code word "party" for terror attack while speaking with her sister and made reference to a "Mad Hatter" and "Alice In Wonderland" themed tea party.

Jurors heard how, over the following days, Rizlaine Boular and her mother Mina Dich, 43, surveilled major landmarks in Westminster and bought knives and a rucksack.

On the day of an alleged knife attack plot near the Palace of Westminster, 27 April 2017, police arrested Rizlaine Boular.

The jury was told the older sister has already admitted to planning an attack with the help of her mother.

But Safaa Boular, who lived with her mother in southwest London, has denied two counts of preparing acts of terrorism.

Duncan Atkinson QC, prosecuting, told the court the teenager, now 18, planned to "unleash violence and terror in the heart of London".

The lawyer said she was inspired by the death of Hussain, her fiance, who was an IS fighter in his 30s.

Jurors heard how the pair declared their love after three months of chatting on social media.

"Their plan then was that together they would, as Hussain put it, depart the world holding hands and taking others with them in an act of terrorism," said Mr Atkinson.

Safaa Boular was stopped in her tracks after she was held by officers at Stansted Airport on her way home after holidaying in Morocco in August 2016, the court heard.

Jurors heard how the teenager and Hussain would talk about an ambush involving Russian-style guns and grenades, which they called "pineapples".

Following Hussain's death, in an encrypted message to a police officer posing as an IS fighter, she said all she needed was a "car and a knife to get what I want to achieve", the Old Bailey heard.

She allegedly said her "heart yearns to be reunited with my dear husband for the very first time".

Joel Bennathan QC, defending, told the court Safaa Boular was "groomed" by her fiance and that her family "encouraged" it.

He said: "She was a child who was sexually groomed, someone who was groomed to be radicalised. That's what happened to this young person."
Safaa Boular, a teenager, goes on trial at the Old Bailey accused of two counts of planning terrorism after allegedly planning to attack the British Museum in London after failing to travel to Syria to marry an Islamic extremist fighter.