NatWest handed Al Qaeda terrorist 100% mortgage to buy £93,000 home he turned into a bomb factory

By DAILY MAIL REPORTER
Last updated at 2:42 PM on 16th December 2009

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Illegal immigrant: Krenar Lusha, who was jailed for seven years for terrorism offences

A bank has sparked outrage by handing over a 100 per cent mortgage to an Al Qaeda terrorist who smuggled himself into Britain.

Albanian Krenar Lusha, 30, was given £93,000 after NatWest failed to complete full checks on his UK status.

He used the cash to buy a house in Derby, where he stored bomb-making equipment and information on how to carry out attacks.

The illegal immigrant also managed to get a UK driving licence, secure a £30,000-a-year engineering job and was even offered a second mortgage - which he declined.

Lusha opened a NatWest bank account in 2000, soon after he sneaked into Britain on the back of a lorry.

When bank staff were asked about its dealings with Lusha, one mortgage advisor told Preston Crown Court: 'He was just a pleasant natured person and there was nothing untoward.'

Yesterday Lusha was jailed for seven years after he was convicted of five out of 10 terror charges following a three-week trial.

Tory MP David Davies said: 'It is extraordinary that a major high street bank gave a mortgage to an illegal immigrant.

'This has only come to light because terrorism charges have been brought against an individual so can we assume that hundreds of other illegal immigrants have also been given mortgages?

Secret cell: Lusha's £93,000 home in Derby was used as an Al Qaeda base

'The banks should now run urgent checks to find out and to take action against those who are found to be illegally in the country.'

A jury heard how he boasted to a string of women on dating websites of being a 'terrorist' and a 'sniper' and how he 'loved' to see Jews and Americans killed.

Lusha denied 10 counts of possessing articles which gave rise to a reasonable suspicion that they were for a terror-related purpose.

However, the jury of six men and six women convicted him on five counts after deliberating for four days.

Lusha was convicted of possessing 71.8 litres of petrol, computer documents called Ragnar's Detonators and The Bomb Book, and video films called the Hezbollah Military Instructions Manual and Mobile Detonators.

The jury heard that he was in the process of downloading the Hezbollah videos when police visited his home in Derby on August 26 last year.

Prosecutor Nigel Godsmark QC told the court that the Hezbollah instructional videos were in Arabic and advised how to make detonators, explosives, a missile and a suicide bomber belt.

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Gallons of petrol found inside the Derby home of Lusha: Police said it was to be used in explosive devices

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Instructions: Officers found bomb manuals on Lusha's computer

Some also contained instructions on landmine placement and how to field-strip an AK-47 automatic rifle.

The petrol was found in the cellar of his terrace home in Moore Street, Normanton, a multicultural area of Derby.

Lusha told the jury some of the fuel belonged to his brother and that he was also stockpiling it because of price hikes.

He was cleared of possessing nearly 4.5lb of potassium nitrate, and documents entitled The Car Bomb Recognition Guide, Middle Eastern Terrorist Bomb Design, Improvised Radio Detonation Techniques, and The Mujahideen Explosives Handbook.

The Mobile Detonators video gave instructions on how to turn a mobile phone into a bomb trigger, the jury heard.

Lusha had 14 mobile phones at his address when police called at about 7.30am and found him in bed.

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Computer equipment which Lusha used to download information on how to build bombs

Mr Godsmark told the court there was also gruesome footage of live beheadings by extreme Islamic groups.

Lusha told the jury that he studied Islam and Arabic in Qatar as a youth and that it was not possible to discuss religion in Communist Albania when he was a teen.

He also admitted possessing fake identification documents, including bogus Italian and Yugoslavian driving licences.

Lusha revealed he paid thousands of dollars to a gang to smuggle him into Britain, but went it alone after they deserted him in Italy.

He settled in Derby and worked long shifts as a factory machinist at HL Plastics in nearby Denby, which enabled him to send money back to his parents in Puke, Albania.

He also obtained a mortgage and bought a £93,000 home. Derby City Council confirmed he was paid benefits up until 2003, while his asylum claim was processed.

Police described him as a 'lone wolf' who 'was off everybody's radar' who only came to their attention when they were investigating another matter.

Potassium Nitrate that was found inside the Derby home of Lusha

When detectives knocked on his door last year he was living and working illegally in the UK.

Police sources said his claim for asylum, on the grounds that he was a Kosovan in fear of persecution by the Serbian authorities, was rejected by the UK authorities.

After losing an appeal he absconded from immigration control.

Lusha also told police that because he and his four brothers didn't fight in the Balkans war he was persecuted by those that did.

Mr Justice Butterfield told Lusha: 'To the outside world you were the cheerful, hard-working helpful man whose only interest was to build a better life for yourself and find a Muslim bride, but behind that facade, in my judgment, there was a much darker side to you, a side that positively revelled in violence, death and destruction.

'You accumulated material on your computer which could only have one purpose: a purpose connected with the commission, preparation or instigation of an act of terrorism.'

He imposed concurrent seven-year sentences for each of the five guilty verdicts, and warned Lusha he would be returned to Albania after his sentence.

Lusha had faced a maximum penalty of 15 years in prison.

Detective Chief Superintendent Tony Porter, of the North West Counter Terrorism Unit, said: 'Lusha's explanations for having the masses of terrorist material and other items, such as the petrol, were completely implausible.

'While there is absolutely no indication of what he intended to do with these items, I believe he had the intention of committing an extremely serious offence - I cannot possibly speculate on when or where.'