Sentencing for sister of Luton attack planner

A woman who kept secret her brother’s plot to kill people in a terrorist attack has been sentenced at Woolwich Crown Court.

A six-and-a-half-month, covert investigation by the Met’s Counter Terrorism Command identified that Sneha Chowdhury knew her brother was planning to carry out a terrorist attack.

The 26-year-old has been sentenced to two years’ imprisonment, suspended for two years, and given a 60-day rehabilitation order. Sneha Chowdhury was previously found guilty of one count of failing to disclose information regarding terrorist activity.

Her brother, Mohuissunnath Chowdhury, was sentenced to life imprisonment last month for planning to carry out a terrorist attack. He was recorded at home telling his sister that he was ‘doing another attack’, and asking her for help to practice stabbing people – alarming information which she did not report to police.

Richard Smith, head of the Met’s Counter Terrorism Command, said: “There is no acceptable reason for listening to someone say they are planning to kill innocent people, and watching them practice how they will do that, then not reporting it to police.

“Sneha Chowdhury willfully kept her brother’s horrific secret, but not every case has to end this way. If relatives report indications that a loved one is becoming radicalised early on, there is an opportunity for authorities to intervene and help them before they become too deeply entrenched. All it takes is a phone call.”