A terror boss who plotted to bomb the London Stock Exchange and was a close friend of London Bridge double killer Usman Khan has been freed from prison.
Mohammed Shahjahan – who grew up in Burslem and Cobridge – was put behind bars back in 2012 over a planned bombing spree, intending to target Boris Johnson, Big Ben and the Stock Exchange.
He was jailed alongside terrorist pal and former Haywood High School student Khan over the plot and both men were sentenced to 16 years in prison.
Shahjahan was automatically released in 2019 under controversial legislation which lets terrorists walk free halfway through their sentence.
But he was recalled a year later for breaching licence conditions after his tag showed he had been able to slip surveillance to visit his wife.
Khan – who was also released early – went on to commit the Fishmonger’s Hall terror attack in 2019, stabbing two young people to death despite claiming to be rehabilitated.
The Parole Board confirmed to StokeonTrentLive last year that it was ‘assessing the potential release of Shahjahan’.
Now GB News host Patrick Christys has reported that Shahjahan has been granted parole.
Mohammed Shahjahan (pictured) was put behind bars back in 2012 over a planned bombing spree, intending to target Boris Johnson, Big Ben and the Stock Exchange
He was jailed alongside London Bridge double killer Usman Khan (pictured) over a planned bombing spree
All three had been watched by MI5 before their planned attack. Surveillance photograph of Cardiff meeting. Terrorists Left to right: Mohibur Raham, Gurukanth Desai, Abdul Miah, Usman Khan, Mohammed Chowdhury, Mohammed Shahjahan
A Ministry of Justice spokesperson said: ‘This decision was made by the independent Parole Board. A view opposing release was entered by the Lord Chancellor in September 2024.
‘After thorough consideration of the Parole Board’s decision, it was concluded there was no legal basis to ask for reconsideration.’
Shahjahan, Khan and key sidekick Nazam Hussain, also formerly of Cobridge, initially acted as a self-contained radical cell, preaching an extreme version of Islam on the streets of Stoke-on-Trent and from a market stall in Waterloo Road.
The trio, who are all British-born and of Pakistani origin, then began to communicate with two groups in other cities in the autumn of 2010.
The three cells had common extreme beliefs, including that terror attacks on targets in the UK were permitted under Islam due to British involvement in military campaigns in Afghanistan and Iraq.
The Stoke-on-Trent men were also recorded talking about planting bombs in pub toilets in Stoke-on-Trent.
While they never got to the stage of building the bombs or selecting targets, they were already considering what would come after this initial campaign.
Now GB News host Patrick Christys has reported that Shahjahan has been granted parole
When it emerged The Parole Board was considering the potential release of Shahjahan Tory MP Nigel Mills said: ‘I sincerely hope he is not released. ‘Usman Khan was and he went on to commit a horrific terrorist attack. This is clearly a man who is one of the most dangerous people in the country’
After his early release in 2018, Khan stabbed and killed two prison rehabilitation workers at an event at Fishmongers’ Hall in 2019. Armed cops then shot him dead.
Another terrorist, Nazam Hussain, 38, was jailed alongside Khan and Shahjahan in 2012.
All three admitted engaging in conduct in preparation for acts of terror and were jailed. All three had been watched by MI5 before their planned attack.
Shahjahan was refused Parole in 2023 but was granted it earlier this year, despite a prison psychologist previously ruling he had a ‘tendency to overlook the consequences of his actions’.
When it emerged The Parole Board was considering the potential release of Shahjahan Tory MP Nigel Mills said: ‘I sincerely hope he is not released.
‘Usman Khan was and he went on to commit a horrific terrorist attack.
‘This is clearly a man who is one of the most dangerous people in the country.’
