The trial of a British man accused of plotting a mass shooting against Jews opened this week in Preston Crown Court, where jurors heard that the suspect had praised the 2015 Paris terror attacks as a “great event” and sought to emulate them in the UK.
Prosecutors say Walid Saadaoui, 38, from Wigan, “hero-worshipped” Abdelhamid Abaaoud, the ISIS commander behind the Paris massacres, and planned to attack a large Jewish gathering in north-west England.
Giving evidence on Thursday, an undercover officer identified only as “Farouk” told jurors he first contacted Saadaoui on Facebook in December 2023, using a fake profile posing as an ISIS sympathizer. Saadaoui accepted the request under the alias “Liya Ernia,” with a profile picture of Abaaoud.
Saadaoui told the undercover officer he wanted to “kill as many Jews as possible,” describing the Bataclan killings that left 130 people dead and more than 400 injured as “well executed” and “divinely enabled.”
Over the following months, prosecutors say, Saadaoui sent a series of violent messages. In one exchange, he said: “I can use a knife in the operation but this will not be enough to take revenge, only the automatic gun. I want to kill as many as possible.”
In another, he described the 2015 Paris attacks as “the biggest operation after that of Osama,” adding, “Good, tight organization. Good execution and above all the enabling of God almighty. It was a great event, brother.”
Investigators say the online exchanges, which continued until May 2024, revealed the extent of Saadaoui’s intent. Police arrested him that month in Wigan, recovering two assault rifles, a semi-automatic pistol, and nearly 200 rounds of ammunition in his car.
Saadaoui and his alleged accomplice Amar Hussein, 52, are accused of preparing acts of terrorism while Saadaoui’s brother, Bilel Saadaoui, 36, has also been charged with failing to disclose information about the planned attack.
All three men deny the charges.
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