If anyone needs proof that jihadism is for losers, they need only look at the case of Abdullah Albadri. He was found guilty yesterday at the Old Bailey of preparation of terrorist acts and two offences of possession of a bladed article in a public place. On 28 April last year, he travelled across London to the Israeli embassy in Kensington, wrapped his head and face in a red-and-white shemagh, put on sunglasses, armed himself with two knives, and tried to climb the perimeter fence. Armed diplomatic protection officers stopped him within seconds.

That was the whole grand operation. An hour of theatrical pilgrimage through London, a martyrdom note, two knives, a costume, a fence, and then the ground.

Albadri was a would-be refugee who had entered the United Kingdom illegally by small boat from France. Twice. The first time, in August 2021, he claimed asylum. But he was so stupid he then deported himself accidentally while waiting for his asylum decision by hitching a lift in a lorry he thought was taking him to Manchester. Instead, he found himself back in France. Even as an illegal infiltrator he was a failure.

He came again on 12 April last year. The next day he was taken to the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Basingstoke, a four-star mid range business hotel just 20 minutes’ drive away from the 17th-century house where Jane Austen spent her later years, now a museum. Free hotel – result! However, three days later he was told that because he had already applied for asylum, his new claim was being treated as a........

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