- The 19-year-old from Hounslow, west London tried to buy gun and bomb online
- But he contacted an undercover MI5 officer and was arrested at his home
- It can be revealed that his brother has also been jailed over a terror attack plot
- His lawyers have said attack was 'a fantasy' inspired by violent computer games
A teenage extremist is facing jail after planning to launch a nail-bomb attack on an Elton John concert on the anniversary of the 9/11 terror attacks.
Haroon Ali Syed, 19, pleaded guilty to researching targets including a concert by the singer in Hyde Park, as well as Buckingham Palace and Oxford Street.
He was said to be planning to carry out a bomb attack 'on the scale of 7/7' and also spoke of attacking shoppers in central London.
Haroon Ali Syed (left) has admitted planning to carry out a nail bomb attack in London on the anniversary of September 11.
It can now be revealed that Syed's brother, Nadir (right), has also been jailed for plotting to behead a poppy seller
But the plot was foiled after Syed contacted an undercover security services agent online and he was arrested at his home in Hounslow, west London.
When asked if his phone had a password, he replied: 'Yeah, I.S.I.S, you like that?'
It can now be revealed that Syed's older brother, Nadir, was convicted in 2015 of buying a 12-inch kitchen knife and plotting to behead a poppy seller.
He was jailed for life in June last year, but after his conviction he threatened to behead prison officers in Belmarsh jail.
Like his brother, he also had a terror-related phone code, 77911.
A knife recovered by police at the time Nadir Syed was arrested. He was convicted in 2015 of buying a 12-inch kitchen knife and plotting to behead a poppy seller
Haroon, a former IT student, today pleaded guilty to preparing acts of terrorism during a five month period between April 12 and September 9 last year.
Thomas Halpin, prosecuting, told an earlier hearing: 'What started out as a professed intent to become a suicide bomber, crystalised into a plan to kill as many kuffar [unbelievers] as possible with a nail bomb.'
He sought the assistance of the undercover officer in getting hold of machine guns, handguns, suicide vests and explosives.
Examination of his phone revealed a series of applications for loans, apparently to help the purchase of guns or bombs, although the applications were all declined.
The plot was foiled after Syed contacted an undercover security services agent online and he was arrested at his home in Hounslow, west London
When he failed to raise the money for a firearm, he asked the undercover officer if he could provide it for free 'for the sake of Allah.'
He told the undercover officer he wanted to do 'some damage with machine gun' before 'istishadi' - a word for a suicide attack.
Syed arranged a meeting with a man who thought was a bombmaker, but who was actually an MI5 officer, at the Queensmere Shopping Centre in Slough.
He handed the man £150 and told him to include 'lots of nails inside'.
In September last year, Syed made a series of worrying internet searches, the court heard.
'From the nature of the searches it appears that he is now intent on identifying a target for his attack no doubt because he believed the bomb would soon be with him,' Mr Halpin said.
The searches included: 'Elton John, Hyde Park, 11 September,' 'Targetting kuffar' and 'fight the kuffar the way they fight you.'
He told an undercover police officer he wanted to set off a bomb on Oxford Street
His search included: 'London's top 10 most crowded boroughs ' along with 'Most crowded place in London' and 'Buckingham Palace, London Traveller Reviews' on TripAdvisor.
He also looked for a religious ruling on 'targeting women and children of the kuffar if they are mixed with the combatants' and 'ISIS Supporter Legitimizes Killing Of Women And Children.'
Syed's brother wanted to behead poppy seller
Haroon Syed's plea came less than a year after older brother Nadir, 24, was jailed for life at the same court for planning to behead a poppy-seller or police community support officer on Remembrance Sunday.
Nadir (pictured, below) was sentenced to serve at least 15 years of a life sentence after he was convicted of planning to carry out a Lee Rigby-style beheading in 2014.
He had bought a huge kitchen knife before his arrest in November 2014 and the trial judge, Mr Justice Saunders, said he believed an attack on a poppy-seller or PCSO was 'imminent'.
Both brothers attended West Thames College in Isleworth.
In a defence case statement, Haroon Syed's lawyers said he was 'highly vulnerable due to family history, lack of education, addiction to violent online video games and the arrest and imprisonment of his brother.'
It was all 'indistinguishable from the video games he was playing at the same time' and he 'never had any intention of carrying out any terrorist act.'
The discussion with the undercover officer were no more than a 'fantasy' and it was 'all about the excitement of the game'.
Syed's lawyers argued he had been 'entrapped' by undercover officers after being groomed into engaging into radical Islamic activity online.
But Judge Michael Topolski QC refused a defence application to exclude key evidence and Syed today pleaded guilty to a charge of preparing an act of terror between 1 April and 9 September 2016 under Section 5 of the Terrorism Act 2000.
The charge states Syed was engaged in 'research, planning and attempting to source materials to produce an improvised explosive device with a view commiting acts against persons in the UK'.
The judge adjourned sentencing until 8 June for reports to be prepared, adding: 'One of the matters I have to consider is whether this defendant should be made the subject of a discretionary life sentence.'
He told Syed: 'You have pleaded guilty to this grave offence and I must pass sentence upon you.'
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