There will be three trials for defendants of the s

There will be three trials for defendants of the so-called ‘Ricin gang’.

The first trial, on February 23 next year, will be to try Kamel Bourgass for murder and attempted murder.

These charges relate to him killing one police officer and wounding several others in trying to flee.

Two other trials, one on April 26 next year, and one on September 6 next year, will try all defendants on charges of conspiring to murder and conspiring to commit a public nuisance by use of poisons or explosives.

These are the terrorism charges.

At today’s plea and directions hearing, the defendants entered pleas to counts on three different indictments.

FIRST INDICTMENT:

Count One: Kamel Bourgass charged with murder, on January 14 this year.

Plea: Not Guilty.

Count Two: Kamel Bourgass charged with attempted murder, on January 14 this year.

Plea: Not Guilty.

Count Three: Kamel Bourgass charged with wounding with intent (alternative to above attempted murder count), on January 14 this year.

Plea: Not Guilty.

Count Four: Kamel Bourgass charged with attempted murder, on January 14 this year.

Plea: Not Guilty.

Count Five: Kamel Bourgass charged with wounding with intent (alternative to above attempted murder count), on January 14 this year.

Plea: Not Guilty.

Count Six: Kamel Bourgass charged with attempted murder, on January 14 this year.

Plea: Not Guilty.

Count Seven: Kamel Bourgass charged with wounding with intent (alternative to above attempted murder count), on January 14 this year.

Plea: Not Guilty.

SECOND INDICTMENT:

Count One: Kamel Bourgass, Mouloud Sihali, David Khalif, Sidali Feddag, Mustapha Taleb, Khalid Alwerfeli and Samir Asli together charged with conspiring to murder other persons on diverse days between January 1, 2002, and January 23, 2003.

All entered pleas of Not Guilty.

Count Two: Kamel Bourgass, Mouloud Sihali, David Khalif, Sidali Feddag, Mustapha Taleb, Khalid Alwerfeli and Samir Asli together conspired to commit public nuisance on diverse days between January 1, 2002, and January 23, 2003, by using poisons and or explosives to cause disruption, fear or injury.

All entered pleas of Not Guilty.

Count Three: Mouloud Sihali charged with possessing false instrument with intent, on or before September 20, 2002, namely a French passport.

Plea: Guilty.

Count Four: Mouloud Sihali charged with possessing false instrument with intent on or before September 20, 2002, namely a French passport.

Plea: Guilty.

Count Five: Mouloud Sihali and David Khalif charged with possessing false instrument with intent, on or before September 20, 2002, namely a Belgian passport.

Plea: Both entered Not Guilty pleas.

Count Six: Mouloud Sihali and David Khalif charged with possessing false instrument with intent, on or before September 20, 2002, namely a French passport.

Plea: Both entered Not Guilty pleas.

Count Seven: Mouloud Sihali and David Khalif charged with possessing false instrument with intent, on or before September 20, 2002, namely a French passport.

Plea: Both entered Not Guilty pleas.

Count Eight: Mouloud Sihali and David Khalif charged with possessing false instrument with intent, on or before September 20, 2002, namely a French passport.

Plea: Both entered Not Guilty pleas.

Count Nine: Mouloud Sihali and David Khalif charged with possessing false instrument with intent, on or before September 20, 2002, namely a Spanish passport.

Plea: Both entered Not Guilty pleas.

Count Ten: Sidali Feddag charged with aiding and abetting the possession of a false instrument with intent, namely a French passport, on a day unknown before January 5, 2003.

Plea: Not Guilty.

Count Eleven: Sidali Feddag charged with aiding and abetting the possession of a false instrument with intent, namely a Belgian passport, on a day unknown before January 5, 2003.

Plea: Not Guilty.

Count Twelve: Sidali Feddag charged with possessing a false instrument with intent, namely a French passport, on or before January 5, 2003.

Plea: Not Guilty.

Count Thirteen: Dismissed.

Count 14: Samir Asli charged with possessing a false instrument, namely a Spanish passport, on or before January 20, 2003.

Plea: Not Guilty.

Count Fifteen: Samir Asli charged with possessing a false instrument, namely a French passport, on or before January 20, 2003.

Plea: Not Guilty.

Count Sixteen: Samir Asli charged with possessing a false instrument, namely a Italian passport, on or before January 20, 2003.

Plea: Guilty.

Count Seventeen: Samir Asli charged with possessing a false instrument, namely a Spanish passport, on or before January 20, 2003.

Plea: Guilty.

Count Eighteen: Samir Asli charged with possessing a false instrument, namely a French passport, on or before January 20, 2003.

Plea: Guilty.

Count Twenty-One: David Khalif charged with possessing a false instrument with intent on or before September 26, 2002, namely a French passport.

Plea: Guilty.

THIRD INDICTMENT:

Count One: Kamel Merzoug charged with conspiring to murder on diverse days between January 1, 2002, and January 23, 2003, conspired to murder other persons.

Plea: Not Guilty.

Count Two: Kamel Merzoug charged with conspiring to commit public nuisance on diverse days between January 1, 2002 and January 23, 2003, by using poison or explosives.

Plea: Not Guilty.

Mouloud Bouhrama’s plea and directions hearing was adjourned for four weeks for him to undergo psychiatric examination to see whether he is fit to plead and/or stand trial.

At a further hearing on January 12 next year, it will be decided which defendants stand trial on which of the two dates (April and September) nominated.

APPLICATIONS TO DISMISS – NOVEMBER 3-10, 2003

Last week Mr Justice Penry-Davey heard applications to dismiss charges of conspiracy to murder and conspiracy to commit public nuisance against Mouloud Sihali, Sidali Feddag and Khalid Alwerfeli.

There was also an application to dismiss a count against Feddag of having a false passport.

The judge also heard an application to dismiss two counts of attempted murder against Kamel Bourgass.

Bourgass is alleged to have stabbed a Manchester police officer to death, and attacked several others while trying to flee a raid.

The judge granted the application to dismiss the false passport charge for Feddag.

All other applications were refused.

MOULOUD SIHALI:

Sihali’s counsel had argued that there was no direct evidence of a link between Sihali and others accused of conspiring to commit acts of terrorism within the UK.

The case against Sihali (DOB 12/07/75) is that he provided a man, Meguerbe, who was using a false name, with a business front.

Sihali vouched for Meguerbe at a bank, and, both men using false names, they set up a company called ‘Seven Roses’.

Meguerbe worked in East Anglia, and it was there that documents – copies of recipes for chemical weapons – were recovered.

It’s alleged that Meguerbe lived at 103D Elgin Road, Ilford, and Sihali lived at 240 High Road, Ilford, with another man called David Khalif.

When Sihali was arrested in September, 2002, both Ilford premises were searched and documents such as false passports with Sihali’s photograph on them, false identity cards, Algerian passports, banking documents, an Irish registration document and a driving licence.

Six pages printed from an internet site were also found, with pictures of Osama bin Laden and Arabic text on them.

When the text was translated it was found to talk about killing Americans and Jews.

Passports that were found Sihali told police that he had been asked to look after for by friends.

It’s alleged that Khalif’s departure for East Anglia in May last year and Sihali’s rental of a flat that June were related.

This, combined with continued telephone contact between Khalif and Sihali, could lead any rightly directed jury to draw inferences of a conspiracy, Mr Sweeney said.

Mr Sweeney said that Meguerbe and Sihali were connected to events in Manchester because a banking slip was recovered from 4 Crumpsall Lane in Manchester, with the names on the slip being the assumed identities under which Sihali and Meguerbe started their company Seven Roses.

The judge found that there was enough evidence on which a jury, properly directed, could convict him.

SIDALI FEDDAG:

Counsel for Feddag said that his client was wholly unaware of what Kamel Bourgass, who he was sharing a flat with, was up to.

He said that Feddag thought that Bourgass, who he knew as ‘Nadir’, was in the habit of making Arabic natural medicine and that’s why Nadir collected apple pips, cherry pips and caster beans.

He said that Feddag met Bourgass/Nadir at the Finsbury Park Mosque, and Feddag thought he must be a ‘good guy’ because he prays at the mosque.

Invited Bourgass/Nadir to live with him in East London but said that Bourgass hardly ever spoke and that the pair were not friends.

Counsel submitted that it was ridiculous to believe that Feddag, then 17, and Bourgass, then 28, would have been friends.

Counsel said that Feddag was more interested in playing snooker and football than worrying about the state of the Islamic world.

The judge ruled that a jury properly directed could convict Feddag of the conspiracy charges.

KHALID ALWERFELI:

Alwerfeli rented the flat at 4 Crumpsall Lane in Manchester where Bourgass allegedly stabbed the police officer.

He rented the flat, said to be a ‘safehouse’ for the gang, in his own name.

Alwerfeli’s fingerprints were also found on an unopened packet of blotting paper, which can be used in the production of poisons.

The judge refused the application to dismiss conspiracy charges against him.

KAMEL BOURGASS:

Bourgass’ counsel applied to dismiss counts two and six on the indictment that relates only to Bourgass (see above).

Counsel submitted that there was no intent to kill the officers that Bourgass allegedly stabbed as he was trying to flee the flat in Crumpsall Lane, Manchester, during a police raid.

The application was refused.