Stringent security was in force around a Central London court-house yesterday as five men charged over an alleged plot to kidnap and behead a British soldier appeared before a judge.

The suspected terrorists were driven from Birmingham, where they were arrested last week, in a convoy of police vehicles.

Last night a sixth man was charged following the raids in Birmingham. West Midlands Police said that Basiru Gassama, 29, from Birmingham, will appear before Westminster magistrates today.

Yesterday armed police stood guard around the City of Westminster Magistrates’ Court during the brief appearance of the five before District Judge Daphne Wickham.

In the dock, the men were flanked by eight security guards. A bail application on behalf of one was refused and all the defendants were remanded in custody. They were taken at high speed to Belmarsh high-security prison in southeast London.

They are scheduled to appear again at the Old Bailey on February 23.

Sue Hemming, head of the Crown Prosecution Service counter-terrorism division, gave details of the charges in a public statement before the court hearing. She said that she had “carefully examined and assessed the evidence against each individual” before authorising charges under the Terrorism Act 2000 and the Terrorism Act 2006.

One man, Parviz Khan, 36, was specifically charged with the alleged kidnap plot. The indictment stated that between November 2006 and January 2007 he “engaged in conduct to give effect to his intention to kidnap and kill a member of the British Armed Forces”.

He was also accused of intending to supply equipment to assist others to commit terrorist acts, and of involvement in funding terrorism. Another of the defendants, Amjad Mahmood, 31, was charged with failing to disclose information about a terror attack being planned by Mr Khan and others. Miss Hemming made clear that the alleged terrorist incident was “the one relating to the kidnap of the soldier”.

Mr Mahmood and three other men — Mohammed Irfan, 30, Zahoor Iqbal, 29, and Hamid Elasmar, 43 — were also charged with intending to supply money or other property for use in terrorism and entering into a financial arrangement to support terrorism.

It is understood that all of the charges relate to the alleged plot to kidnap a Muslim soldier, behead him on film and post the footage on the internet.

Miss Hemming said that Sir Ken MacDonald, QC, the Director of Public Prosecutions, had been closely involved in the decision to charge the suspects. They were among nine people arrested in Birmingham on January 31. One man remains in custody at a police station in Coventry and another was freed, bringing to three the number of people to have been released without charge.

Assistant Chief Constable David Shaw, of West Midlands Police, said that “extraordinary progress” had been made in the investigation, but emphasised that it was continuing. “To date we have seized over 4,500 exhibits, which include computers, mobile phones and documents.” Mr Shaw said that extensive media coverage of the arrests had strained community relations in the West Midlands.

Contact officers had been appointed to keep all of the families of those arrested informed, and community leaders were also being kept in touch with developments.

Mr Shaw said: “We have seen real leadership from all sections of the community, who have not only supported us, but have also publicly supported our search for the truth.

Mohammad Naseem, chairman of the Birmingham Central mosque, urged the Muslim community to remain dignified and calm. He said: “We are all on the same side. Nobody supports terrorism in the community. As long as the process is open and transparent, we have no complaints.” In a separate investigation, an Islamist radical charged with encouraging terrorism in a speech marking the anniversary of the July 7 bombings is to be freed on £50,000 bail today.

Abu Izzadeen, 31, a convert to Islam who was born Trevor Brookes and came to prominence as leader of the Saved Sect, was granted bail yesterday but could not make arrangements to meet all the bail conditions in time to be released last night. He has been charged in connection with a speech that he delivered on July 2 last year at a community centre in Birmingham.

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