By Samantha Jones-
A 22-year-old terrorist from Brighton, who had previously been sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum term of 16 years for plotting to kill a preacher at Speaker’s Corner in Hyde Park, has had his jail sentence increased.
Edward Little, 22, from Brighton, was originally sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum term of 16 years at the Old Bailey on December 15.
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The judge, in a hearing held under the “slip rule,” revised Little’s life sentence to a minimum of 24 years, signaling the gravity of the threat he posed to public safety.
Little, who had initially received his sentence on December 15 at the Old Bailey, had meticulously planned the attack on a Christian preacher who frequented Speaker’s Corner. Counter-terrorism police revealed that the new hearing was conducted under Section 155 of the Powers of Criminal Courts (Sentencing) Act 2000, allowing judges to re-sentence if fresh information comes to light.
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Little’s arrest on September 23, 2022, foiled his deadly plans. Traveling from Brighton to Lewisham in a taxi with £5,000 to purchase a firearm and bullets, Little had targeted the Christian preacher, Hatun Tash.
The police stressed that while the preacher was the primary target, anyone in the vicinity could have fallen victim to the attack.
In May of the same year, Little pleaded guilty to preparing acts of terrorism. Notably, he refused to attend the Old Bailey for his sentencing.
His conversion to Islam during his time in Young Offender Institutions was followed by downloading extremist propaganda, including publications from al-Qaida. Little expressed his desire for a Mac-10 submachine gun and an AK-47 assault rifle in encrypted chats on the Threema messaging platform.
Co-conspirators and their Fate
Three members of a crime gang, Tyler King, Caleb Wenyeve, and Reis Forde, were also sentenced for conspiring to provide Little with the gun, even though they were unaware of the intended use. Little had contemplated a mass gun attack on the late Queen’s funeral in Westminster before settling on the Speaker’s Corner plot.
Tyler King from Lewisham was sentenced to 10 years and nine months for conspiracy to transfer a prohibited firearm, possession of a prohibited firearm, and three counts of possession of ammunition without lawful authority.
Caleb Wenyeve from Blidworth Close in Nottingham received 12 years for conspiracy to transfer a prohibited firearm, and Reis Forde was handed 13 years and six months for the same charge.
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