Abdullah Sabah Albadri has been sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum term of 20 years for preparing a terrorist act directed at the Israeli embassy in Kensington. The sentence was imposed at the Old Bailey on Monday, 5 October, after a jury convicted him of the terrorism offence and two counts of possessing bladed articles.
The case arose from an attempt to enter the diplomatic site on 28 April 2025. Albadri, then 33, approached the embassy carrying two knives and tried to climb its security railings. Armed officers on duty stopped him before he could get over the perimeter. No serious injuries were reported.
Albadri was convicted of preparing terrorist acts, contrary to section 5 of the Terrorism Act 2006. The court also found him guilty of two offences involving possession of a pointed or bladed article under the Criminal Justice Act 1988. The life sentence, with a minimum term of 20 years, applies to the terrorism offence. The combined sentence for the knife offences was 18 months and will run at the same time, rather than extending the minimum term.
The sentencing closes the criminal proceedings arising from the attempted breach, following a two-week trial and the guilty verdict in May. The case centred not only on Albadri’s presence outside the embassy but on evidence about what he had prepared and intended to do. Investigators said searches on his phone included the embassy’s location in the days before the incident and terms associated with suicide and martyrdom. A handwritten note found when he was arrested described an intention to die as a martyr.
Police also recovered footage showing Albadri walking from Kilburn in north-west London towards the embassy. He had a red-and-white scarf around his head and mouth and was wearing sunglasses. In body-worn footage from the arrest, he told officers he had weapons and wanted to commit a crime inside the embassy. The police investigation concluded that he wanted to attack the site in revenge for Israeli government actions in Gaza.
The prosecution argued that the attack could have endangered people at the embassy, including people leaving the building as Albadri tried to scale the railings. The defence disputed the level of danger. His barrister told the court that the plan could not have succeeded, that there was no serious risk of harm and that Albadri’s conduct was performative. The jury nevertheless returned guilty verdicts on the terrorism-preparation and knife-possession charges.
Albadri was 34 when he was sentenced. The police account states that he had arrived in the United Kingdom by small boat from France on 12 April 2025, 16 days before the embassy incident. That sequence formed part of the case background; the offences for which he was sentenced concerned preparation of a terrorist act and possession of the knives.
The sentence distinguishes the central terrorism conviction from the related weapons offences: life imprisonment with a 20-year minimum for preparing the act, alongside concurrent terms for possessing the two knives. The Old Bailey proceedings are now concluded, with Albadri remaining subject to the life sentence and its minimum custodial term.
