Israeli embassy attack: Failed asylum seeker Abdullah Albadri found guilty of attempted knife attack

Failed asylum seeker Abdullah Albadri has been found guilty of trying to enter the Israeli embassy in London to carry out a knife attack.

The 34-year-old, who was born in Kuwait, is on trial at the Old Bailey.

Albadri was attacked by armed police in May 2025 after jumping the embassy fence armed with two 4-inch knives.

Jurors were told he tried to break into land in Kensington, west London, to “take revenge” for the killing of children in Gaza.

On Friday, the jury found him guilty of preparation for terrorist acts and possession of two sharp objects.

He was later arrested and sent to prison for punishment.

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

The defendant, who was born into the stateless Arab Bedoon tribe, said he was imprisoned and mistreated in Kuwait for campaigning for human rights.

On April 28, 2025, she was captured on CCTV walking for an hour from Kilburn, north-west London, to the embassy, ​​wearing dark sunglasses and a red-and-white headscarf.

Just before 6pm, Albadri walked outside the embassy in Kensington Palace Gardens and made a saluting gesture before jumping over a 2.5-metre metal fence.

Within seconds, two armed diplomatic guards grabbed the defendant and pinned him to the ground.

PC Libby Chessor told jurors that pulling Albadri from the fence was “challenging” because he was holding on “quite strongly”.

He said: “The way he walked towards the embassy, ​​what he said, how quickly he jumped up, I believed his intention was to get over the railings.”

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

In the video carried by the police officer shown in court, Albadri stated that he “took my guns.”

Two red-handled and serrated knives, as well as pieces of paper containing a “martyrdom note” were seized.

Albadri told police: “I want to commit a crime there, why are you stopping me? Why are you stopping from committing a crime?”

He continued to complain: “Why didn’t you let me in?”

Before being loaded into a police van, Albadri is heard saying in the police suit video: “You know it’s just a message, yeah.

“They need to stop this damn war on children.

“We need to live in harmony because the children living there are all the same.

“We live in the same Earth, it’s not far away…”

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

Testifying at his hearing, Albadri emphasized that he never intended to bring his loud protest to the embassy grounds or to harm anyone.

“It’s against what I believe in. It’s against my nature. It’s against my character. How do we stop killing by killing?”

He said he was being “sarcastic” by referring to the knives as “weapons” and that the alleged martyrdom note was merely an overly dramatic letter to his mother.

Defense barrister Chris Henry KC said Albadri was “in complete despair” but had tried to get help after his asylum claim was rejected and he was told to leave the asylum hotel.

“This case is not about our views on asylum seekers coming across us on small boats.

“This case is about a person who is truly in distress and what is going on inside his head.”

In his statement, Albadri denied wanting to harm anyone, but acknowledged that he would consider the shooting during a peaceful protest a form of martyrdom.