‘Neo-Nazi’ upset he did not get to kill solicitor in terror plot, court told
Cavan Medlock is alleged to have arrived at the Duncan Lewis law firm in Harrow on September 7 2020, armed with a combat knife and handcuffs, while carrying large Confederate and Nazi flags.
An alleged neo-Nazi said he was “upset” he did not get to “finish the job” of killing a solicitor in a terror plot, a court has heard.
Cavan Medlock is alleged to have arrived at the Duncan Lewis law firm in Harrow on September 7 2020, armed with a combat knife and handcuffs, while carrying large Confederate and Nazi flags.
The 31-year-old threatened a receptionist with the knife before threatening to kill solicitor Toufique Hossain and abusing two other members of staff because of their racial or religious background, the court heard.
Medlock, of Harrow, north-west London, denies charges of making a threat to kill Mr Hossain and the preparation of terrorist acts.
Sheroy Zaq, who was working as a solicitor in Duncan Lewis’s public law and immigration departments at the time of the incident, told Kingston Crown Court on Tuesday that the racial abuse from Medlock was “relentless”.
Mr Zaq said that, when asked by staff why he was at the law office, Medlock replied: “I’m here to kill Toufique Hossain.”
Prosecutor Timothy Cray KC asked Mr Zaq: “Did he say anything else about the killing?”
The solicitor replied: “He just said he was upset with himself that he didn’t get to finish the job.” Mr Zaq added that the incident was “not something you expect to see in the reception of a law firm”.
The court heard that Medlock was restrained by the law firm’s staff after he advanced on a receptionist while holding a knife and demanding to see Mr Hossain.
Mr Zaq said: “I grabbed Mr Medlock by the shoulders and forced him into the corner and did my best to keep him there.”
Giving evidence at the trial, Mr Hossain said: “For me, what was pretty horrifying about it, was that he (Medlock) was stone-cold, very unemotional – looking at me with a real deep hatred.”
Mr Hossain said he heard Medlock telling staff at the law firm “you’ve been helping these rats come to this country” and “various antisemitic things like ‘Hitler was right’”.
He added he remembered “very clearly” Medlock looking directly at him as the 31-year-old said he wanted “to kill” him.
Mr Hossain told the court that after he was restrained, Medlock had said to him “I bet you went to Harrow School” and that he had replied: “I went to state school”.
A phone seized from Medlock shows that he had conducted research on the solicitor and read a newspaper article which named Mr Hossain as a lawyer who was assisting immigrants, the court heard.
Mr Cray asked Mr Hossain: “Were you aware before the incident that your name had been mentioned in an article in the Daily Mail?”
Mr Hossain replied: “Yes, leading up to that day, we were aware of that article and a number of other articles in the preceding weeks.”
Another witness told Kingston Crown Court that Medlock had said to her: “Hitler did not finish the work with you.”
Giving evidence, Efrat Idelson, who was a trainee solicitor at Duncan Lewis in September 2020, said: “He started screaming at us that we are bringing illegal immigrants to the UK.
“He said that we bring black people – he also said Jews.” Mr Cray asked the solicitor: “When he mentioned ‘Jews’ what did you say to him?” Ms Idelson said: “I told him: ‘I am Jewish. Do you have any problem with this?’”
“What was his reply?”, Mr Cray asked. “He said: ‘Yes, Hitler did not finish the work with you’,” Ms Idelson said. She added: “I was a little bit afraid of him.
“He was very violent, aggressive and his comments were very racist and antisemitic. I didn’t feel comfortable to say the least.” The court heard that Medlock got receptionist Ravindran Tharmalangam in a headlock before being disarmed.
Giving evidence, Mr Tharmalangam told the court that Medlock was holding the knife “at about shoulder height”.
He added: “We got in a scuffle. “I was holding the hand he was holding the knife with – we scuffled for a while, the knife fell off and I kicked it away.”
Mr Tharmalangam said he suffered “a bump” on his forehead from the fight. The trial continues.
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