‘Deeply radicalised’ council binman, who converted to Islam and told his wife who worked at an Army base he wanted to kill soldiers is jailed for five years

• Darren Glennon became Muslim and changed his name to Aabid Ali 20 years ago
• He had maps of parliament and searched Downing Street security arrangements
• Ali spoke of using his car as a weapon and told his wife he wanted to kill soldiers
• The 49-year-old from Wrexham was jailed for 5 years by a Manchester judge 

A Welsh council binman who converted to Islam and became 'deeply radicalised' has been jailed for five years for terrorism offences. 

Isis supporter Aabid Ali, from Wrexham, said the murder of Lee Rigby was justified, looked up security arrangements at Number 10 and was found with maps of Parliament, Manchester Crown Court heard.

The 49-year-old also told his wife, who worked at an army based, that he wanted to kill soldiers and spoke of using a car as a jihadi weapon before he was eventually arrested in his hi-vis work jacket.

He had changed his name from Darren Glennon and converted to Islam 20 years ago, the court heard. 

Isis supporter Aabid Ali, from Wrexham, said the murder of Lee Rigby was justified and was found with maps of Parliament but was arrested in his hi-vis council binman jacket

The council refuse collector became increasingly fixated with extremist ideology in the last two years, 'almost daily' watching videos of Isis beheadings, stonings and bombings and looking up how to make explosives.

He had visited Downing Street and said he hoped to meet the 'war criminal' prime minister, regarding the West and its military as legitimate targets for jihad.

He also told his wife of his desire to bomb an RAF base and attack nightclubs.

When she told police it led to heightened security at the army barracks where she worked, the court heard.

Ali told officers: 'Everyone loves a bomb. I like the sound of a bang.'

He pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing to two offences of having Isis publications, bomb making manuals, useful for terrorist purposes and a further count of encouraging terrorism, all committed last autumn.

Ali, who has a shaved head and ginger goatee beard, shrugged his shoulders as he was jailed for five years and four months by the Honorary Recorder of Manchester Judge David Stockdale, who said he had shown, 'no remorse, no regret, no apology'.

He added: 'This is extremely serious offending, you are patently fixated with extremism and terrorism and you are minded to encourage terrorism in others.

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Police searching the house in Wrexham after swooping on the address.  The council refuse collector became increasingly fixated with extremist ideology in the last two years

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Police searched his home on November 10 last year, seizing his mobile phone and tablet device, showing a substantial quantity of 'mindset evidence' 

'You show no sense whatsoever of retreating from your path into radicalisation.' 

Earlier Simon Davies, prosecuting, told the court on October 5 last year Ali had met officers working on the national Prevent strategy, to counter radicalisation, after his wife told police of her husband's extreme views and sympathy for Isis.

He told officers he agreed with the Isis declaration of a caliphate in Syria, regarded the UK military as legitimate targets and listened to the preachings of jailed radical preacher Anjem Choudary and influential US-born Islamist cleric Anwar Al Awlaki.

He was warned about his conduct but refused to engage in 'state sponsored mind bending', he said.

His wife told police her husband had become increasingly fixated with radical Islam and he had said he wanted to kill a soldier with a car and described him as 'driven' in his attitudes.

Police searched his home on November 10 last year, seizing his mobile phone and tablet device, showing a substantial quantity of 'mindset evidence'.

This included downloading Inspire 13, an al Qaida bomb making manual, and Palestine: Betrayal Of A Guilty Conscience, a similar document showing how to make a pressure cooker bomb.

The court heard a 'flavour' of the internet searches Ali carried out included information on travelling to the Middle East, radical preachings, GCHQ and spying, pipe bombs, SAS barracks locations and how to make bomb detonators and maps of Parliament.

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 The 49-year-old also told his wife, who worked at an army based, that he wanted to kill soldiers and spoke of using a car as a jihadi

Counter-terror police also found he had posted a comment on YouTube, on or before November 10 last year, intended to directly encourage others to commit, prepare or instigate acts of terrorism.

After his arrest he denied ever trying to make a bomb and made no comment when asked if he intended to carry out terrorist acts himself.

Paul Smith, mitigating, said the defendant had never 'crossed the line' into actually preparing an act of terrorism himself.

His wife told police her husband had always felt the need to be 'part of a brotherhood' and had in the past been a member of the BNP and a biker group.

Mr Smith said Ali was a vulnerable man radicalised by others.

'This is a man who is influenced, rather than an influencer,' he added. 

Assistant Chief Constable Richard Debicki of North Wales Police said: 'Nobody is better placed to detect something that is out of place in their communities than the people living in them.

'To effectively combat the terrorism threat the police, businesses, government and the general public need to work together.'