A British terror suspect associated with the infamous White Widow, Samantha Lewthwaite, has been returned to the UK from Kenya after serving a prison sentence for possessing bomb-making materials and forgery.
Jermaine Grant arrived in Britain on Thursday, escorted by Kenyan officials, and was immediately arrested upon landing at Heathrow Airport.
A Kenyan court had previously mandated Grant’s deportation following his sentence, after prosecutors argued for his expulsion.
Alert – As the flatmate of the White Widow is hauled back to the UK, what happened to Samantha Lewthwaite after she was linked to terror attacks overseas and a network of extremists https://t.co/3G9muyGcFg pic.twitter.com/8cjDKCXMXz
— Alert Content (@thealertcontent) August 9, 2024
Investigators link the 41-year-old to Samantha Lewthwaite, widow of 7/7 bomber Germaine Lindsay, and the terror group Al-Shabaab.
In 2011, Kenyan authorities arrested Grant in Mombasa, where they discovered bomb-making materials in his residence.
In 2019, he was sentenced to four years in prison, to be served concurrently with an earlier nine-year sentence for forgery.
Prosecutors then requested Kenya’s High Court to deport Grant to Britain after completing his sentence.
A government spokesperson confirmed the deportation, stating, “Our priority is to ensure the safety and security of the UK. We maintain one of the most robust counter-terrorism frameworks globally.”
A Met Police spokesperson added, “On 8 August, officers arrested a 41-year-old man at Heathrow Airport for breaching licence conditions linked to a previous conviction. His licence conditions were revoked in August 2005.”
“Upon returning to the UK on 8 August, the man was also arrested for being unlawfully at large and on suspicion of being a member of Al-Shabaab. He remains in police custody.”
Grant’s flight to the UK was on a Kenyan Airways aircraft, according to The Telegraph.
Grant, a convert to Islam, was apprehended in Mombasa in December 2011. Authorities suspected he was planning a bombing campaign targeting tourist hotels.
In 2008, he was arrested for attempting to attack a police base while disguised in a burka on a bus entering Somalia.
Investigators found chemicals, switches, and an explosives manual in his apartment, thought to be shared with Lewthwaite. He also possessed a forged Canadian passport.
When police raided Grant’s flat, Lewthwaite had escaped minutes earlier, allegedly warned by Grant via text message.
Grant is believed to have been radicalised in the same British prison as ‘shoe bomber’ Richard Reid, who is serving a life sentence in the US.
Authorities suspect Grant’s connections with Al-Shabaab, of which Lewthwaite, originally from Northern Ireland, is also thought to be a member.
Lewthwaite remains a fugitive and is one of the world’s most wanted individuals. Security sources believe she fled Somalia two years ago after leaving her fourth husband.
She is accused of orchestrating numerous terror attacks, including the 2013 Westgate Mall attack in Nairobi, which killed over 60 civilians and several soldiers.
Lewthwaite is on Interpol’s red notice list for international terrorists and criminals.
Originally from Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, Lewthwaite was the wife of 7/7 bomber Germaine Lindsay and is linked to numerous suicide attacks in Africa and the Middle East.
Interpol issued a Red Notice for her arrest after the 2013 Westgate Mall attack, which killed five Britons and 66 others, injuring around 200 more.
Security services attribute to her the 2015 university attack that killed 148 people.
In Yemen, she allegedly recruited female suicide bombers with £3,000 bribes and sent male bombers, some as young as 15, high on heroin, to their deaths.
Lewthwaite reportedly altered her appearance through plastic surgery and gained weight to avoid recognition.
She has vowed to raise her four children, fathered by three different men, as jihadists.
As a teenager, Lewthwaite was influenced by extremist cleric Trevor Forrest, also known as Sheikh Abdullah el-Faisal, through whom she met Lindsay, who killed himself and 26 others in 2005.