A man armed with two knives and a suspected martyrdom note attempted to breach the Israeli embassy in west London last April, intending to kill embassy staff and die “for the glory of God,” prosecutors told the Old Bailey on Wednesday.

Abdullah Albadri, 34, a Kuwaiti-born man who had entered Britain twice by small boat from France, was arrested by armed officers as he tried to scale the embassy fence on April 28. When detained, he asked officers: “Why didn’t you let me in?”

Prosecutor Catherine Pattison told the court that Albadri’s intention was to use or threaten serious violence against the Israeli government “to exact revenge for its alleged murder of children.” His martyrdom note, the two knives, and material downloaded from his phone all pointed to a plan to attack people inside the embassy and sacrifice his own life in the process, she said.

Albadri had first arrived in Britain on a small boat in August 2021, later withdrew an asylum application, and apparently left the country. On April 12 last year, he crossed the Channel again and applied for asylum, telling authorities he had fled Kuwait as a human rights activist fearing for his family’s safety. His application was rejected on April 24. Prosecutors said that after the rejection, his focus shifted to “far more sinister matters” and he began searching for the location of the Israeli embassy.

Four days later, he sent his mother a photograph of a handwritten note alongside a knife. Hours after that, he was in custody.

Albadri denies charges of preparing an act of terrorism and possession of two bladed articles, claiming he carried the knives because he was homeless.

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