A failed asylum seeker has been sentenced to life in prison after attempting to breach the Israeli embassy in London with the intention of carrying out a knife attack.
Abdullah Albadri, 34, who was born in Kuwait, was confronted by armed police after scaling the embassy fence while carrying two four-inch knives.
Jurors heard that he had sought to enter the grounds in Kensington, west London, to “exact revenge” over the deaths of children in Gaza.
Albadri was convicted of preparing terrorist acts and possessing two bladed articles. He was jailed for life with a minimum term of 20 years.
The court heard that the term would be reduced to 18 years and 207 days to account for time already spent on remand.
Albadri showed no emotion in the dock as Mrs Justice Lambert KC delivered the sentence.
Jurors had previously heard that Albadri’s asylum application was rejected after he entered the UK by small boat twice, first in 2021 and again in April 2025.
The defendant, who was born into Kuwait’s stateless Arabian Bedoon community, said he had been imprisoned and mistreated for campaigning for human rights in Kuwait.
Armed police tackled 34-year-old Abdullah Albadri after he climbed the Israeli embassy fence
The failed asylum seeker was stopped outside the Israeli embassy in London in April last year
CCTV captured Albadri walking towards the embassy with his face covered in April 2025
CCTV showed Albadri walking for an hour from Kilburn in north-west London to the embassy on April 28 last year. His head was covered by dark sunglasses and a distinctive red and white keffiyeh.
Shortly before 6pm, he reached the embassy in Kensington Palace Gardens, made a gesture resembling a salute and then began climbing the eight-foot metal fence.
Within seconds, two armed diplomatic protection officers reached up, seized Albadri and pulled him back to the ground.
Pc Libby Chessor told jurors that removing Albadri from the fence had been “challenging” because he was gripping it “quite strongly”.
She said: “The way he was walking towards the embassy, the things he was saying, how quickly he jumped up, I believed it was his intent to get over that railing.”
Officers restrained Albadri, handcuffed him and carried out a search.
Body-worn video played in court showed Albadri indicating that he had “got my weapons”.
Police recovered two red-handled knives, each four inches long with serrated blades, along with papers that included a “martyrdom note”.
Albadri was filmed climbing the high railings as two police officers moved towards him
CCTV footage also showed how Albadri was pinned to the ground and detained by police
Albadri was found guilty of preparation of terrorist acts and possession of two bladed articles and has now been sentenced for a minimum term of 20 years
Albadri told police: ‘I wanna make a crime inside there, why are you stopping me? Why are you stopping from making crimes?’
He went on to complain: ‘Why didn’t you let me in?’
Before being put into a police van, Albadri was heard on police body-worn video to say: ‘You know it’s just a message, yeah.
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‘They need to stop this f****** war on children.
‘We need to live in harmony because the children who live there, it’s all the same.
‘We are living in the same Earth, it’s not a faraway place…’
The defendant later denied preparing to commit an act of terrorism and said the knives were intended for ‘personal use’ as he was homeless.
Giving evidence in his trial, Albadri had insisted he never intended to take his shouted protest inside the grounds of the embassy or harm anyone.
He said: ‘It is against what I believe. It is against my nature.
‘It is against my character. How are we going to stop killing by killing?’
He said he was being ‘sarcastic’ by referring to the knives as ‘weapons’ and his alleged martyrdom note was just an overly dramatic letter to his mother.
Defence barrister Chris Henry KC said Albadri had been in a ‘state of total despair’ but had tried to get help after his asylum claim was rejected and he was told to leave an asylum hotel.
A Metropolitan Police officer found what was said to be a suicide note written in Arabic
He said: ‘This trial is not about our views of asylum seekers who come across on small boats.
‘This case is about a human being in real distress and what is going on inside his head.’
In his evidence, Albadri had denied wanting to harm anyone but conceded he would consider being shot while protesting peacefully to be a form of martyrdom.
Albadri had first entered the UK on August 5, 2021, arriving at Dover in a small boat from France.
He applied for asylum but he left the country weeks later and spent five years living and working in France as a delivery driver.
After failing to gain citizenship in France, he returned to the UK in the early hours of April 13 last year, arriving at Ramsgate in a small boat, and was provided temporary accommodation at the Crowne Plaza hotel in Basingstoke.
However, Home Office officials spotted his previous application and he was told he needed to leave the hotel by April 17 and was not entitled to state support.
Albadri approached asylum charities and law firms asking them to help him launch an appeal but became increasingly desperate when he was told they were too busy to take on his case.
He went to stay with a family friend in London but ended up attending the Islamic Centre of England and sleeping rough in London parks.
Albadri made frequent calls to Migrant Help, the Red Cross, numerous law firms and exchanged WhatsApp messages with a contact called Alex from Care4Calais.
He tried to find work as a dish cleaner in takeaways and in a car wash but in a voice note to Alex on April 24, Albadri told her he was ‘really desperate’.
The Israeli embassy previously said it ‘welcomes the verdict’ against Albadri.
A spokesman added: ‘The United Kingdom bears a clear responsibility to protect and safeguard its diplomatic partners, and we appreciate the ongoing efforts of the security authorities in providing continuous protection to the Embassy.
‘The State of Israel will not be deterred by acts of terror or intimidation. We will continue to carry out our diplomatic mission from London and across all our missions worldwide with determination and resolve.’