Four men from London appear in court charged with terrorism offences including swearing oaths to join ISIS and obtaining a handgun and ammunition

• Police charge four men with terror offences following raids in London
• Basis of charges includes allegedly conducting 'hostile reconnaissance' of west London police station and a nearby Territorial Army Barracks 
• Another man faces firearms charges over the alleged transfer of Baikal pistol
• All five men appeared at Westminster Magistrates Court this afternoon

One of the men charged is Tarik Hassane, 21, of Ladbroke Grove, west London

A gang of British terror suspects laughed in the dock yesterday as they were charged with plotting to kill policemen and soldiers in London drive-by shootings.

Tarik Hassane, 21, Suhaib Majeed, 20, Nyall Hamlett, 24, and Momen Motasim, 21, appeared amid extraordinary security as they were charged with an Islamic State-inspired gun plot.

It was alleged to have been formulated in response to a fatwa by a senior IS terrorist who called for followers to kill ‘disbelievers’ in their home countries.

The gang is accused of swearing allegiance to IS and acquiring a handgun, silencer and ammunition in preparation for a mission to tour London on mopeds looking for targets.

Prosecutor Mark Dawson told Westminster magistrates’ court yesterday: ‘It is a plot in essence, not fully formulated, to shoot to kill a police officer, police officers or soldiers on the streets of London in accordance with the fatwa that was issued.’

The gang is accused of scouting Shepherd’s Bush police station and White City Territorial Army barracks in a ‘hostile reconnaissance’ mission using Google Street View.

They were said to have kept Instagram images of two Scotland Yard police officers and two community support officers. The group is also charged with amassing jihadist material, including videos of beheadings.

It is the first alleged terrorist plot in Britain directly linked to the IS terrorists responsible for the murders of British hostages Alan Henning and David Haines.

The young men, some of whom attended Westminster City School in London, were all born in Britain.

 when they appeared in court for the first time charged with intending to commit acts of terrorism, they were surrounded by 14 policemen and security officers, many wearing stab vests.

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Accused: Tarak Hassane in his school days. He is now 21 and accused of plotting a terrorist attack

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The five men were brought to Westminster Magistrates Court this afternoon to the face charges

The group arrived at court under heavy police protection with a police helicopter overhead, while two vans and several marked cars encircled the building.

One of the alleged plotters, medical student Hassane, who had been studying at the University of Medical Sciences and Technology in Sudan until recently, couldn’t stop giggling. Co-accused Majeed also smirked as details of the plot were read out.

According to a lengthy charge sheet, the gang is said to have sworn an oath of allegiance to IS and downloaded the ‘fatwa of al-Adnani’ on mobile phones.

IS official spokesman Abu Mohammad al-Adnani al-Shami has called for retribution against the coalition of countries fighting the terrorists in Iraq and Syria.

He instructed followers to kill by any means necessary civilians and soldiers in countries across Europe, Australia, Canada and the US.

Police found copies of jihadi magazines that contained graphic images including the beheading of Steven Sotloff, an American journalist murdered by IS.

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Two police vans drove into the courthouse's back entrance after Scotland Yard announced the charges

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The charges come after Metropolitan Police raids in the Ladbroke Grove area of central London last week

The men were said to have set up methods of secret communications and entered into covert discussions using code words for money, mopeds and firearms. Police recovered a Russian-made Baikal handgun, silencer and six rounds of ammunition.

Yesterday the defendants were uncuffed before they entered the dock, where they spoke only to confirm their names, dates of birth and addresses during the brief hearing.

A fifth man said to be the gang’s armourer also appeared. Nathan Cuffy, 25, is charged with the transfer of a converted Baikal handgun with a silencer and a magazine containing six rounds of ammunition. District Judge Emma Arbuthnot refused bail and all five were remanded in custody to appear at the Old Bailey on October 27.

Three other men arrested during Scotland Yard’s investigation earlier this month were released without charge.

 A 19-year-old woman was released on bail until next week pending further inquiries.

Details of the charges emerged as Assistant Commissioner Mark Rowley, Britain’s counter-terrorism chief, warned that officers were grappling with ‘exceptionally high’ numbers of investigations.