Men jailed for EDL bomb plot challenge sentences

Six men jailed for planning to bomb an English Defence League rally are challenging their jail terms, saying they were treated more harshly than non-Muslim extremists.

The West Midlands men were jailed for between 18 and 20 years for plans related to the June 2012 rally, in Dewsbury, West Yorkshire.

The men are Omar Khan, Jewel Uddin, Zohaib Ahmed, Mohammed Hasseen, Anzal Hussain and Mohammed Saud

They were sentenced in June last year.
Judge Nicholas Hilliard QC carried out the sentencing at the Old Bailey.

Five of the men had taken a bomb, knives and sawn off shotguns to the rally in June 2012 in Dewsbury, West Yorkshire.
The case raises the issue of what some lawyers have called a "Muslim surcharge" on sentences for this type of offence.

Khan, Uddin and Ahmed were sentenced to 19-and-a-half years in prison.
Hasseen, Hussain and Saud were given 18 years and nine months.

All of the men received an extra five-year extension to their terms "on licence".

These were what are known as "extended sentences", which means that the men will serve at least two thirds of their principal sentence in prison.

Once they are released, they remain on licence for the remainder of their prison sentence, and for the licence period.

However, the BBC has learnt that the men's lawyers will argue that comparisons with prison terms given to non-Muslims found guilty of similar offences shows a persistent pattern of much lower sentences.

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