Muslim convert facing life after admitting plot to kill 100 outside Oxford St Disney Store

A Muslim convert has admitted plotting to kill around 100 people in a terror attack outside the Disney Store on Oxford Street.

Lewis Ludlow, 26, was due to face trial in the autumn on two charges of preparing acts of terrorism and one of terror funding but pleaded guilty on Friday at a hearing at the Old Bailey.

Ludlow, from Rochester, Kent, swore allegiance to Islamic State as he prepared to drive a van through London’s shopping district or Madame Tussauds.

Between March 15 and April 19 he bought a phone under a false name and wrote down his attack plans – which were later found ripped up in a bin – as well as researching potential targets around London.

He identified Oxford Street as an “ideal” target, writing: “It is expected nearly 100 could be killed in the attack”.

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Ludlow cooked up his plan after being stopped by police at Heathrow airport in February as he tried to board a flight to the Philippines.

It was alleged he also set up a Facebook account called Antique Collections as a front to send money to south east Asia for terrorism.

Following Ludlow’s guilty plea at the Old Bailey hearing, prosecutor Mark Heywood QC said it would not be in the public interest to pursue a trial on a charge of attempting to join IS in the Philippines which the defendant denied. That charge will lie on the court file.