'The terrorist Tube driver who planned to wage war in Afghanistan'

Amir Ali, 28, booked a flight to Islamabad and bought survival equipment to engage in violent jihad in Pakistan or Afghanistan, the jury was told.

Prosecutor Duncan Penny told Snaresbrook crown court: "In March last year Ali, who was at the time employed by London Underground as a Tube driver on the Bakerloo line, was preparing to fly to Pakistan.

"In a travel agents in Ilford he paid £435 in cash towards a flight from Heathrow to Islamabad.

"He was travelling alone, leaving his wife and his two children behind him in their home in east London.

"He had written a letter to his wife instructing her and his little boy what to do after he had gone.

"He told her not to be upset or depressed with him for not being there as he claimed he would always remember her and his children.

"He told her to tell the children that he loved them very much but that he had to go for the sake of Allah because Allah and his prophet Mohammed came first."

Ali reassured his wife they would be reunited in heaven if he died, the court heard. Mr Penny went on: "In arranging this travel to Pakistan, Amir Ali was preparing to give effect to his intention of committing acts of terrorism or assisting another in committing such acts.

"Until he decided not to travel, Ali intended to travel to Pakistan and there or in Afghanistan engage in violent jihad or assist others to do so."

Ali withdrew £4,000 and purchased a ticket for the flight to Islamabad departing in March last year, the court was told.

He also bought a self-inflating pillow, a Wilderness sleeping bag and a pair of waterproof trousers from an Army & Navy store in Ilford.

Ali, of Ilford, denies preparation for acts of terrorism between April 2006 and March last year.

The trial continues.