Small boat migrant is discovered responsible of making an attempt to interrupt into London’s Israeli embassy to launch a knife terror assault days after his asylum declare was rejected

A failed asylum seeker was today found guilty of trying to break into London‘s Israeli embassy to launch a knife attack.

Kuwait-born Abdullah Albadri, 34, was tackled by armed police after he leapt up an embassy fence armed with two four-inch knives.

Jurors were told he had tried to get into the grounds in Kensington, West London, to ‘exact revenge’ for the killing of children in Gaza.

Today, a jury at the Old Bailey, which deliberated for nearly 14 hours, found him guilty of preparation of terrorist acts and possession of two bladed articles.

He was remanded into custody to be sentenced on a date to be fixed.

The court had heard how Albadri was refused asylum after he twice entered the UK in small boats in 2021 and April 2025.

The defendant, who was born into the stateless Arabian Bedoon tribe, said he had been jailed and mistreated for campaigning for human rights in Kuwait.

On April 28 last year, he was captured on CCTV walking for an hour from Kilburn in north-west London to the embassy with his head covered by dark sunglasses and a distinctive red and white headscarf.

Just before 6pm, Albadri arrived outside the embassy in Kensington Palace Gardens and made a gesture like a salute before he jumped up the 8ft high metal fence.

Within seconds, two armed diplomatic protection officers reached up and grabbed the defendant, pulling him to the ground.

Pc Libby Chessor told jurors it had been ‘challenging’ pulling Albadri off the fence because he had been holding on ‘quite strongly’.

She said: ‘The way he was walking towards the embassy, the things he was saying, how quickly he jumped up, I believed it was his intent to get over that railing.’

Albadri was pinned down by officers and handcuffed before being searched.

On police body-worn video shown in court, Albadri indicated he had ‘got my weapons’.

Two red-handled 4in long knives with serrated blades were seized along with pieces of paper including a ‘martyrdom note’.

Albadri told police: ‘I wanna make a crime inside there, why are you stopping me? Why are you stopping from making crimes?’

He went on to complain: ‘Why didn’t you let me in?’

Before being put into a police van, Albadri was heard on police body-worn video to say: ‘You know it’s just a message, yeah.

‘They need to stop this f****** war on children.

‘We need to live in harmony because the children who live there, it’s all the same.

‘We are living in the same Earth, it’s not a faraway place…’

The defendant later denied preparing to commit an act of terrorism and said the knives were intended for ‘personal use’ as he was homeless.

Giving evidence in his trial, Albadri had insisted he never intended to take his shouted protest inside the grounds of the embassy or harm anyone.

He said: ‘It is against what I believe. It is against my nature.

‘It is against my character. How are we going to stop killing by killing?’

He said he was being ‘sarcastic’ by referring to the knives as ‘weapons’ and his alleged martyrdom note was just an overly dramatic letter to his mother.

Defence barrister Chris Henry KC said Albadri had been in a ‘state of total despair’ but had tried to get help after his asylum claim was rejected and he was told to leave an asylum hotel.

He said: ‘This trial is not about our views of asylum seekers who come across on small boats.

‘This case is about a human being in real distress and what is going on inside his head.’

In his evidence, Albadri had denied wanting to harm anyone but conceded he would consider being shot while protesting peacefully to be a form of martyrdom.

Albadri had first entered the UK on August 5, 2021, arriving at Dover in a small boat from France. 

He applied for asylum but he left the country weeks later and spent five years living and working in France as a delivery driver.

After failing to gain citizenship in France, he returned to the UK in the early hours of April 13 last year, arriving at Ramsgate in a small boat, and was provided temporary accommodation at the Crowne Plaza hotel in Basingstoke.

However, Home Office officials spotted his previous application and he was told he needed to leave the hotel by April 17 and was not entitled to state support.

Albadri approached asylum charities and law firms asking them to help him launch an appeal but became increasingly desperate when he was told they were too busy to take on his case.

He went to stay with a family friend in London but ended up attending the Islamic Centre of England and sleeping rough in London parks.

Albadri made frequent calls to Migrant Help, the Red Cross, numerous law firms and exchanged Whatsapp messages with a contact called Alex from Care4Calais.

He tried to find work as a dish cleaner in takeaways and in a car wash but in a voice note to Alex on April 24, Albadri told her he was ‘really desperate’.

Following the verdict, Bethan David, head of the Crown Prosecution Service Counter terrorism division, said: ‘Abdullah Albadri deliberately armed himself, concealed his identity and attempted to climb into a diplomatic site while carrying knives.

‘The evidence showed planning and preparation, and that his actions were driven by an intention to use violence to make a political statement.

‘Thanks to the swift actions of officers, no-one was hurt, and today’s verdicts reflect the seriousness of what was prevented.’

In a statement, the Israeli embassy said: ‘The Embassy of Israel in the United Kingdom welcomes the verdict delivered by the British judicial system against the individual who sought to carry out a terror attack targeting our mission in London.

‘This decision underscores the importance of upholding the rule of law and ensuring accountability for those who threaten public safety and diplomatic institutions.

‘We are concerned by a troubling rise in politically motivated violence. Such incidents must be firmly addressed, alongside efforts to reduce divisive and inciting rhetoric.

‘The United Kingdom bears a clear responsibility to protect and safeguard its diplomatic partners, and we appreciate the ongoing efforts of the security authorities in providing continuous protection to the Embassy.

‘The State of Israel will not be deterred by acts of terror or intimidation. We will continue to carry out our diplomatic mission from London and across all our missions worldwide with determination and resolve.’