Kenya to deport British terrorist Jermaine Grant as sentence ends

A British terror suspect and associate of the notorious “White Widow” could be returned to the UK imminently after a Kenyan High Court ordered his deportation.

Jermaine Grant should be sent to the UK as soon as his sentence has finished, a Mombasa judge ruled on Wednesday after an application from the Kenyan government.

Grant, 40, who is originally from London, had been imprisoned in the East African nation after being convicted of possessing bomb-making materials and using forged documents to obtain Kenyan citizenship.

The court heard there was a difference of opinion about when his sentence was due to be completed, but Kenyan authorities believed the deadline was either imminent, or had already passed.

The court order means Grant could be back in the UK in a matter of days, or weeks.

Justice Anne Ong’injo told the court: “The respondent Jermaine John Grant will be repatriated to his country of origin by the Cabinet Secretary in charge of Immigration in accordance with the Kenya Citizenship and Immigration Act.”

Grant, who watched the proceedings by video link from Kamiti maximum security prison in Nairobi, said he had no objections.

The Muslim convert from east London was considered a close associate of Samantha Lewthwaite, the so-called White Widow terror suspect who has been on the run from police for more than a decade. 

Her husband Germaine Lindsay was one of the four suicide bombers who killed 52 people in London in 2005. She is wanted by Interpol and Kenya for possession of bomb-making materials and conspiracy to commit a felony.

Grant was prosecuted in Kenya after police found chemicals, switches and a bomb-making manual in a flat he shared with Lewthwaite. He was accused of being involved in a plot targeting hotels visited by foreign tourists.

In a 2019 trial he was convicted of possession of bomb-making materials, but the court acquitted him of conspiracy over the alleged plot.

He was given a four-year sentence, after already having been given a nine-year sentence in an earlier trial for using forged documents to obtain Kenyan citizenship.

The court heard estimates of his completion date differ based on calculations of time served. The Kenyan government said his sentences ended on June 24, but prison authorities said he should be in prison until at least next month.

British officials are understood to consider his release date to be August 2024.

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