Fifth man arrested in ‘London Christmas market terror plot’

December 30, 2017
| Report Focus News
Police and the Bomb Disposal Unit outside a property in Chesterfield, Derbyshire, after four men were arrested on suspicion of plotting terror attacks. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Tuesday December 19, 2017. Officers from the North East Counter Terrorism Unit detained the men at their home addresses in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, and Chesterfield, Derbyshire, on Tuesday morning. See PA story POLICE Terrorism. Photo credit should read: Aaron Chown/PA Wire

 A fifth man has been arrested in Sheffield over an alleged plot for a Christmas terror attack, police say.

Two buildings in Sheffield were searched by counter-terrorist officers after the 21-year-old local was held late on Friday.

The 21-year-old local man was held under the Terrorism Act late on Friday night, and two buildings in the city are now being searched.

Four men were held in earlier raids carried out in Derbyshire and South Yorkshire on 19 December.

A Counter Terrorism Policing North East (CTPNE) spokesperson said: “The 21-year-old man, from the Fir Vale area of Sheffield, was arrested on suspicion of being concerned in the commission, preparation or instigation of acts of terrorism under Section 41 of the Terrorism Act 2000.

“The intelligence-led arrest was made in the Firth Park area of Sheffield at approximately 11pm on Friday evening.

“Two addresses, a residential address in Fir Vale and a business address in Firth Park, are currently being searched by officers.”

Two of the four men first arrested – Andy Star, 31, and Farhad Salah, 22 – have both been charged with one count of engaging in the preparation of an act of terrorism.

Both men are Kurdish Iraqis, and Star is the owner of the Mermaid Fish and Chip Bar on Sheffield Road in Chesterfield.

They are both due to appear at the Old Bailey in London in January.

A 36-year-old man from Burngreave in Sheffield remains in custody, while a 41-year-old from Meersbrook in Sheffield was released on Saturday.

Additional reporting by the Press Association