Jurors readied for six-month trial

By Rory MacLean
Home Affairs Correspondent

All eight men deny conspiring to murder passengers on planes

They showed no interest in return flights to the UK, prosecutor Peter Wright QC said, because they knew they were not coming back.

He was making his opening address to Woolwich Crown Court, on the first day of a trial expected to run for six months.

Eight men are accused of conspiracy to set off bombs on flights to North America in the Summer of 2006.

"They are men with the cold-eyed certainty of the fanatic," Mr Wright told the court, "indifferent to the carnage" that would have resulted.

The accused stood in the dock, mostly smartly-dressed in suits. They listened in silence as the case against them was outlined.

All eight deny the charges of conspiring to murder and endangering aircraft.

The plan allegedly involved boarding planes carrying self-assembly bomb kits, disguised as the clutter of an ordinary tourist's baggage - cameras, batteries and bottles of soft drink which had been carefully filled with explosive from underneath so that they looked tamper-free.

They were "not long off" implementing their plans when the police raids came, the jury heard.

Extra jurors

Normally there are just 12 jurors to hear a court case. But the judge, Mr Justice Calvert Smith, is taking no chances. A further three potential jurors are sitting to one side of the jury box on separate chairs.

Trials can proceed with 11 jurors if one falls ill. But the judge does not want risk having to start again.

The jury have been given large file boxes of documents by the prosecution, which Mr Wright promised to take them through. He asked them not to worry if there was too much detail - all would become clear as the case unfolded.

The courtroom is modern, bright and airy. There are video screens, angled to show the various exhibits in the case. There is a video map, very like the ones on the back of aircraft seats that show the progress of a flight.

Visual aids

A transatlantic map shows seven aircraft flight paths, to destinations such as New York, San Francisco and Toronto. These are just some of the flights the prosecution claim were to be attacked.

There is also a picture showing a bag of a powdered soft drink called Tang, which it is alleged was to be a component of the bombs disguised to pass through airport security.

As the jury look out across the courtroom, they see the defendants completely enclosed in a toughened glass dock.

They can see three rows of barristers, with the prosecution sitting the furthest away.

Mr Wright carefully identified the defendants to the jury by the colour of their ties or clothing.

It was the beginning of a judicial journey that will take up to half a year of their lives.