Three men from Birmingham, who were arrested in raids last week, appeared at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on terror charges for plotting attack on members of the English Defence League (EDL).

Jewel Uddin, 26, Omar Mohammed Khan, 27, and Mohammed Hasseen, 23, have been accused of plotting an attack on members of the English Defence League, the anti-Islamic group, who had held a rally in Dewsbury, West Yorkshire, on June 30.

The arrests, by the West Midlands Counter Terrorism Unit, were followed by a routine police stop of a vehicle on the M1 near Sheffield, South Yorkshire, on June 30. All the accused belonging to Sparkhill, were arrested last week when police stopped a car on the M1 and found guns, knives, machetes and a home-made explosive device.

Uddin, Khan and Hasseen are charged under the Terrorism Act 2006, accused of preparing for an act or acts of terrorism with the intention of committing such acts. The suspects are also accused of manufacturing an improvised explosive device, as well as acquiring firearms and other weapons, and vehicles to carry out their alleged plans.

Four other men detained in connection with the investigation remain in custody. They are a 22-year-old man from Smethwick, West Midlands; a 22-year-old man from Alum Rock, Birmingham; a 24-year-old man from Moseley, Birmingham; and a man aged 43 from Kirklees, West Yorkshire. The police has been given time until the end of the day to charge, release or apply for a warrant of further detention for three of them. The fourth man can be held until tomorrow.

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