Wheelchair-bound suspect exits court after being charged over RAF air base terror plot

On Sunday the 27th of September, police responded to an incident close to the perimeter of RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire, a military base and home to many US service personnel. Since then, counterterrorism policing has been leading a detailed investigation to understand the events leading up to that day and the ambition behind what happened. And I can confirm that we have now secured two charges as part of that investigation. Newman Esgear, a 24-year-old British national from the borough of Westminster in London, has been charged under Section 4 of the National Security Act, which is an offence to enter, access, inspect or approach a prohibited place for a purpose prejudicial to the safety or interests of the United Kingdom. This was following suspected activity on Saturday the 22nd of August. I can also tell you that we interviewed another man under caution. That individual, Mohammed Ahmed Abul Karim, a 24-year-old British national from the borough of Westminster, London, has now been charged under Section 3 of the National Security Act 2023, which makes it an offence to assist a foreign intelligence service. In this case, we believe that country to be Iran. This incident was defined by images of three vans being stopped and searched by armed police officers and the arrest of five men at the scene. The subsequent release of those five men on police bail sparked significant questions and speculation about the investigation and why that was the case. We know that decisions made during our investigations can sometimes appear illogical to those on the outside, but I want to make it very clear that there will always be a good reason or rationale behind them. It can take time to convert intelligence into evidence and this is what scores of my officers and staff have been doing over the last few weeks. Their work has involved reviewing extensive CCTV footage as well as the contents of dozens of digital devices seized as part of the investigation and while some of the circumstances remain unclear we are confident that this activity was conducted on behalf of a foreign intelligence service. We've seen a range of incidents in recent months that we believe have been directed by the Iranian state and as the Director General of MI5 said recently we're working together to intervene, identify and respond to that threat.