On 14 May 2010,

Stephen Timms Sir Stephen Creswell Timms (born 29 July 1955) is a British Labour Party politician who has been Member of Parliament (MP) for East Ham, formerly Newham North East, since 1994. He has served as Minister of State for Social Security and Disabi ...

, the Labour MP for

East Ham East Ham is a district of the London Borough of Newham, England, 8 miles (12.8 km) east of Charing Cross. Within the boundaries of the Historic counties of England, historic county of Essex, East Ham is identified in the London Plan as a ...

, was stabbed whilst holding a constituency surgery by Roshonara Choudhry, a 21-year-old British student and an Islamic extremist, in an attempt to kill him. She was found guilty of

attempted murder Attempted murder is a crime of attempt in various jurisdictions. Canada Section 239 of the ''Criminal Code'' makes attempted murder punishable by a maximum of life imprisonment. If a gun is used, the minimum sentence is four, five or seve ...

and jailed for

life Life, also known as biota, refers to matter that has biological processes, such as Cell signaling, signaling and self-sustaining processes. It is defined descriptively by the capacity for homeostasis, Structure#Biological, organisation, met ...

with a minimum term of 15 years. Choudhry was the first

Al-Qaeda , image = Flag of Jihad.svg , caption = Jihadist flag, Flag used by various al-Qaeda factions , founder = Osama bin Laden{{Assassinated, Killing of Osama bin Laden , leaders = {{Plainlist, * Osama bin Lad ...

sympathiser to attempt an assassination in Britain. Choudhry stated that she had been influenced by online sermons of

Anwar al-Awlaki Anwar Nasser Abdulla al-Awlaki (; April 21 or 22, 1971September 30, 2011) was an American-Yemeni lecturer assassinated Drone strikes in Yemen, in Yemen in 2011 by a U.S. government drone strike ordered by President Barack Obama. Al-Awlaki was th ...

, the leader of

Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula ( or : Tanẓīm Qā‘idat al-Jihād fī Jazīrat al-‘Arab, . Organization of Jihad's Base in the Arabian Peninsula), or AQAP is a Sunni Islam, Sunni Islamic extremism, Islamist militant organization which s ...

. Following her trial, such material was removed from YouTube.

Background

Choudhry was born to a Bangladeshi family in

Newham The London Borough of Newham () is a London boroughs, London borough created in 1965 by the London Government Act 1963. It covers an area previously administered by the Essex county boroughs of County Borough of West Ham, West Ham and County ...

East London East London is the part of London, England, east of the ancient City of London and north of the River Thames as it begins to widen. East London developed as London Docklands, London's docklands and the primary industrial centre. The expansion of ...

, and lived in

. She was the eldest child and attended Plashet School in East Ham, later studying for her

A-level The A-level (Advanced Level) is a subject-based qualification conferred as part of the General Certificate of Education, as well as a school leaving qualification offered by the educational bodies in the United Kingdom and the educational ...

s at

Newham Sixth Form College Newham Sixth Form College (NewVIc) is a sixth form college located in the East London borough of Newham. Situated on a single site in Plaistow, the college was established in 1992 to provide for students in Newham and neighbouring boroughs who o ...

. She had been in the final year of a degree in English and communications at

King's College London King's College London (informally King's or KCL) is a public university, public research university in London, England. King's was established by royal charter in 1829 under the patronage of George IV of the United Kingdom, King George IV ...

, but had dropped out shortly before the attempt on Timms' life. In a police interview, she stated that she had left because she found the university to be anti-Islamic, since they had given an award to the Israeli politician and statesman

Shimon Peres Shimon Peres ( ; ; born Szymon Perski, ; 2 August 1923 – 28 September 2016) was an Israeli politician and statesman who served as the prime minister of Israel from 1984 to 1986 and from 1995 to 1996 and as the president of Israel from 2007 t ...

, in addition to running counter-radicalisation programmes. Choudhry was inspired to attack Timms by the online lectures of

Attack

On 14 May 2010, Timms was approached by Choudhry, during his constituency surgery at the Beckton Globe Library in Kingsford Way,

Beckton Beckton is a suburb in east London, England, located east of Charing Cross and part of the London Borough of Newham. Adjacent to the River Thames, the area consisted of unpopulated marshland known as the East Ham Levels in the parishes of Bark ...

, East London. She acted as though she were going to shake his hand, and then stabbed him twice in his abdomen with a 6-inch kitchen knife, before she was disarmed. She made "very full admissions" to the police, saying that she had been influenced by dozens of hours of sermons that she had watched of

, a leader of

al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula ( or : Tanẓīm Qā‘idat al-Jihād fī Jazīrat al-‘Arab, . Organization of Jihad's Base in the Arabian Peninsula), or AQAP is a Sunni Islam, Sunni Islamic extremism, Islamist militant organization which s ...

. She said her attack was to punish Timms for voting for the

Iraq War The Iraq War (), also referred to as the Second Gulf War, was a prolonged conflict in Iraq lasting from 2003 to 2011. It began with 2003 invasion of Iraq, the invasion by a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition, which ...

, and as revenge for the

Iraqi people Iraqis ( ; ) are the citizens and nationals of the Republic of Iraq. The majority of Iraqis are Arabs, with Kurds accounting for the largest ethnic minority, followed by Turkmen. Other ethnic groups from the country include Yazidis, Assy ...

. Timms suffered "potentially life-threatening" wounds: lacerations to the left lobe of his

liver The liver is a major metabolic organ (anatomy), organ exclusively found in vertebrates, which performs many essential biological Function (biology), functions such as detoxification of the organism, and the Protein biosynthesis, synthesis of var ...

, and a perforation to his stomach. A senior police officer said he "was extremely fortunate not to have been killed". He underwent emergency surgery at the

Royal London Hospital The Royal London Hospital is a large teaching hospital in Whitechapel in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It is part of Barts Health NHS Trust. It provides district general hospital services for the City of London and Tower Hamlets and sp ...

, from which he was discharged on 19 May.

Trial

Choudhry chose not to attend her trial for

at the

Old Bailey The Central Criminal Court of England and Wales, commonly referred to as the Old Bailey after the street on which it stands, is a criminal court building in central London, one of several that house the Crown Court of England and Wales. The s ...

, saying she did not recognise the court's jurisdiction. The prosecutor ruled out any suggestion that she suffered from a mental illness. On 2 November, Choudhry was found guilty of Timms' attempted murder. She was subsequently given a life sentence, with a recommendation that she serve a minimum jail term of 15 years. After the sentence was announced in court, a group of men in the public gallery began shouting " Allahu akbar" and "British go to hell." A small demonstration took place outside the court.

Aftermath

After the court case, Timms said he was not bitter, but that forgiveness was not possible until his attacker showed remorse. He was seeking the banning of incendiary material on popular internet sites "to protect other vulnerable young people from going down the same road." The Revolution Muslim website described Choudhry as a heroine for stabbing Timms, posted a prayer to destroy the "enemies of Islam", naming Timms, and responded to her conviction for attacking Timms by publishing a list of MPs who had voted in favour of the Iraq War, as Timms had, giving advice on how to find details of their constituency surgeries. Choudhry is incarcerated at HM Prison Bronzefield in

Ashford, Surrey Ashford is a town in Borough of Spelthorne, Spelthorne, in Surrey, England, including some areas within the London Borough of Hounslow. The town lies west of central London. Its name derives from a Ford (crossing), crossing point of the River ...

. As a Category A prisoner, Choudhry must be strip-searched before and after being visited. For religious reasons, she opposes this, and instead chooses to remain in solitary confinement.

References

{{Portal bar, England, London, Biography, Law 2010 in London Terrorist incidents involving knife attacks in Europe Beckton Attacks on British politicians Stabbing attacks in London Islamic terrorist incidents in 2010 Islamic terrorism in London May 2010 crimes in Europe May 2010 in the United Kingdom Terrorist incidents in the United Kingdom in 2010 Stabbing attacks in 2010 Terrorist incidents in London in the 2010s Failed assassination attempts in the United Kingdom