A British terror suspect, Jermaine Grant, has been deported to the United Kingdom after completing a lengthy prison sentence in Kenya. The 41-year-old was apprehended upon his arrival at Heathrow Airport on Thursday, following his flight from Nairobi, Kenya’s capital.
Grant was originally jailed in 2011 after authorities discovered bomb-making equipment in his apartment in Mombasa, a coastal city in Kenya. It is believed that Grant shared this flat with Samantha Lewthwaite, infamously known as the “White Widow,” who remains wanted in connection with the 7/7 bombings in London.
Following his arrest in 2011, Kenyan police accused Grant of plotting to bomb tourist hotels along the country’s coast. Although he was acquitted of conspiracy charges in 2019, Grant was convicted for possessing bomb-making materials.
The UK’s Metropolitan Police confirmed on Friday that Grant had been detained under the Terrorism Act. A statement from the Met Police read: “We can confirm that on 8 August, officers from the Met Police arrested a 41-year-old man who was wanted on recall to prison in relation to breaching licence conditions linked to a previous conviction. He was arrested at Heathrow airport as he arrived back into the UK on a flight from Kenya. The man’s licence conditions were revoked in August 2005 following the initial breach.”
Grant was also arrested on suspicion of being a member of al-Shabab, a notorious Islamist militant group, according to the Met Police. He remains in police custody.
Meanwhile, Samantha Lewthwaite, who was married to London suicide bomber Germaine Lindsay, has not been seen since 2011 and is wanted by police in both Kenya and the UK. Lewthwaite, who grew up in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, and converted to Islam, remains one of the most wanted individuals in Kenya, suspected of having ties to al-Shabab and involvement in multiple attacks.
Grant is believed to have been radicalized after spending time in prison with Richard Reid, a notorious extremist known as the “shoe bomber.” Reid is currently serving a life sentence in the United States following his failed attempt to detonate explosives on a transatlantic flight using his shoes.
