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| Cab driver guilty of Iraq bomb murder | Cab driver guilty of Iraq bomb murder |
| (43 minutes later) | |
| A cab driver has been found guilty of the murder of a US soldier in Iraq, in a roadside bombing, eight years ago. | |
| Anis Sardar, 38, from Wembley in north-west London, built bombs as part of a "deadly" campaign to kill Americans fighting in the country. | Anis Sardar, 38, from Wembley in north-west London, built bombs as part of a "deadly" campaign to kill Americans fighting in the country. |
| The devices were planted in or around the road west out of Baghdad, London's Woolwich Crown Court heard. | The devices were planted in or around the road west out of Baghdad, London's Woolwich Crown Court heard. |
| One caused the death of 34-year-old Sergeant First Class Randy Johnson, of 2nd Stryker Cavalry Regiment. | One caused the death of 34-year-old Sergeant First Class Randy Johnson, of 2nd Stryker Cavalry Regiment. |
| He died after a bomb hit the armoured vehicle he was travelling in on 27 September, 2007. | |
| Sardar was caught about seven years later after FBI officials found his fingerprints on some of the bombs. | Sardar was caught about seven years later after FBI officials found his fingerprints on some of the bombs. |
| Initially, he denied to police that he had been involved in bombmaking, but on the second day of his trial, he admitted that his fingerprints were on two of four devices linked to the case. | |
| He told jurors he had become involved in the Iraqi insurgency to protect his fellow Sunni Muslims from Shia militias. | |
| He argued US soldiers had not been his targets, blaming instead "the likes of Dick Cheney, George Bush and Tony Blair" for their deaths. | |
| Two months after Sgt Johnson was killed, Sardar was stopped at Heathrow and his fingerprints were taken on his way back to the UK from Syria. | |
| 'Dying plea' | |
| In 2012, officers who were searching his London home as part of a separate investigation found an Arab-language bombmaking manual, with references to Islam, on a computer disc. | |
| Sardar's fingerprints were not on the bomb that killed Sgt Johnson but all four bombs had the prints of his co-conspirator, Sajjad Adnan. | |
| Prosecutors said Sardar and Adnan had worked together with a team to build and plant the devices. | |
| Adnan, who is not a UK citizen, was handed over to Iraqi authorities after the bombings. His whereabouts are not known. | |
| After the explosion, Sgt Johnson told comrades: "Don't let me die here." | |
| Three servicemen, also in the vehicle, suffered concussion. A fourth - Gunner Mark Aggers - was left with serious shrapnel wounds. | |
| 'Murderous intent' | |
| A jury of seven women and five men took just over 11 hours to find Sardar guilty of murder, by a majority of 11-1, and guilty unanimously of conspiracy to murder. | |
| A count of conspiracy to cause an explosion was ordered to lie on file. | A count of conspiracy to cause an explosion was ordered to lie on file. |
| The defendant stayed calm as the verdicts were read out. | The defendant stayed calm as the verdicts were read out. |
| Sue Hemming, from the Crown Prosecution Service, called it a "landmark prosecution" that showed international borders were "no barrier" to terrorists in the UK being prosecuted for murder committed anywhere in the world. | |
| She said Sardar was a "highly dangerous man" who had been working with "murderous intent" against coalition forces. | She said Sardar was a "highly dangerous man" who had been working with "murderous intent" against coalition forces. |
| Sardar is expected to be sentenced on Friday. | Sardar is expected to be sentenced on Friday. |