British PM 'bomb plotter' appears in court

A man planned to bomb Downing Street's gates before attacking Theresa May with a knife and suicide vest inside Number 10, a court has heard.

Naa'imur Zakariyah Rahman has been charged with preparing acts of terrorism and was remanded in custody during a hearing at Westminster Magistrates' Court.

The 20-year-old, of Ballards Lane, in Finchley, north London, is also charged with helping another man, Mohammed Aqib Imran, prepare terror.

Imran, 21, of Ombersley Road, in the Sparkbrook area of Birmingham, also appeared in court charged with trying to join Islamic State and preparing acts of terror.

He too was remanded in custody.

The pair, who were arrested in armed police raids in London and Birmingham last week, will appear at the Old Bailey on 20 December.

It came as the security agency revealed it had prevented nine terror attacks in the UK in the past year.

Downing Street is protected by armed police officers and separated from the public by fortified gates.

Security measures were introduced in the 1970s but were increased in the 1980s as the threat from Irish republican groups grew.