Four Convicted For Assisting 'Would-Be Suicide Bomber'

Four people - including the terrorist's 'wife' - have now been convicted of assisting a would-be London suicide bomber to evade capture.

Hussain Osman was convicted and jailed for life last year for the attempted bombing on the London transport system on July 21, 2005.

Hussain Osman planted an explosive device at Shepherds Bush tube station and when the bomb only partially detonated, he fled the scene.

At the Central Criminal Court on Wednesday, the bomber's partner, Yeshi Girma, 31, her brother Esayas Girma, 22, and her sister Mulumebet 'Mulu' Girma, 24, were all convicted of offences including assisting an offender and not disclosing information about acts of terrorism.

Then yesterday, following the four-month trial, Girma was also convicted of having prior knowledge of the planned attacks and failing to pass on information to the authorities. She was sentenced to 15 years imprisonment.

Mulumebet Girma's boyfriend, Mohamed Kabashi, 25, pleaded guilty at the Central Criminal Court in February to assisting an offender and failing to disclose information about acts of terrorism in relation to Osman and has also been sentenced to 15 years jail.

Esayas Girma received a 10-year sentence and his sister, Mulumebet, to 15 years in jail.

Police say that Girma had provided accommodation to Osman immediately after the attacks, treated his injuries and helped him move into a second safe-house during the massive police hunt.

Deputy Assistant Commissioner John McDowall, Head of the MPS Counter Terrorism Command said at the sentencing: "The men and women convicted today deliberately failed to alert the authorities about what they knew, despite the heightened fear and anxiety around that time, when four suicide bombers were at large."

Four attempted bombings of July 21, 2005 took place exactly two weeks after the fatal July 7 blasts.

The July (7/7) bombings killed 52 commuters and injured 700.

(DS)(BMcC)