Gay judge hearing Tube bomb trial
The first openly gay man to be appointed a High Court judge is presiding over the trial of six men accused of conspiracy to murder and conspiracy to cause explosions.
The charges relate to an attempt to bomb the London underground system on July 21st 2005, two weeks after the devastating attacks of July 7th.
Muktar Ibrahim, Manfo Asiedu, Hussein Osman, Yassin Omar, Ramzi Mohammed and Adel Yahya all deny the charges.
The prosecution is still outlining their case today, the second day of proceedings.
Mr Justice Fulford is presiding over the trial. The Southampton University-educated judge has been a barrrister since 1978, and became a QC in 1994.
His appointment as a High Court judge in 2002 was the first time that an openly homosexual QC had been appointed to the court.
Mr Justice Fulford, known outside court as Sir Adrian, was subsequently elected at the United Nations in 2003 to serve as a judge on the International Criminal Court.
Today the court was told by the prosecution that the alleged plot to bomb the London transport system had been planned before the 7/7 attacks a fortnight before.
Prosecuting counsel Nigel Sweeney QC told the jury, “The events with which you are concerned 14 days after are plainly not some hastily-arranged repetition of the devastating events of 7/7, plainly not some hastily-arranged copycat.”
The trail continues.