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A UK jury convicted a Kuwaiti national on Friday of trying to break into Israel’s London embassy to launch a knife attack, shortly after Britain refused his asylum application.
Jurors at London’s Old Bailey court found 34-year-old Abdullah Albadri guilty of preparation of terrorist acts and possession of two knives following the incident in April last year.
Armed police had tackled Albadri as he scaled an eight-foot-high fence at the west London embassy while carrying two knives, with the court hearing he wanted to “exact revenge” for the killing of children in Gaza.
Police body camera footage played during his trial showed Albadri telling officers: “I wanna make a crime inside there, why are you stopping me?”
Police also found a so-called “martyrdom note” when they searched him.
Albadri had denied planning to harm anyone, giving evidence that the knives were intended for “personal use” as he was homeless.
Jurors deliberated for nearly 14 hours before rejecting his claims and convicting him. He was remanded in custody and will be sentenced at a later date.
Albadri had twice entered the UK in small boats but had been denied asylum in April 2025.
He had claimed to have been jailed and mistreated for campaigning for human rights in Kuwait.
His lawyer Chris Henry told the court he had been in a “state of total despair” but had tried to get help after his asylum claim was rejected and he was told to leave an asylum hotel.
“This case is about a human being in real distress and what is going on inside his head,” he said.
The conviction comes the day after Britain’s security services raised the terrorism threat level to “severe”, the second-highest level in the five-tier system, meaning an attack is “highly likely in the next six months.”
The move followed the stabbings on Wednesday of two Jewish men in north London, as well as a spate of arson attacks targeting the Jewish community and other growing extremist threats.
Additional sources • AFP