Convicted UK terrorist jailed for driving rubbish truck

Andrew Rowe breached the rules of his release by failing to tell police about driving jobs

Andrew Rowe was jailed after it was found he had been driving a rubbish truck. Alamy

A convicted terrorist has been jailed for 10 months by a London court after he was found driving a refuse lorry in breach of the conditions of his release.

Andrew Rowe, 50, was first imprisoned in 2005 after he was found to have instructions on how to fire mortar bombs and possession of an Al Qaeda recording.

He was released in 2010 but had to tell police if he was driving a potentially dangerous vehicle to ensure he did not pose any risk to the public.

But Rowe was discovered in 2019 to have been driving the lorry and other vehicles in London for two months without telling the police. Lorries have been used in a series of terrorist attacks including one on Berlin’s Christmas market in 2016 in which 12 people were killed.

Rowe admitted nine counts of breaching the 15-year supervision order and was sentenced in London on Thursday.

Kevin Southworth, of the London police’s counter-terrorism unit, said: “Rowe was obliged to report the access to the vehicles within three days, which he did not, therefore we took action to investigate and bring him before the court.”