Three men accused of planning to commit mass murder by blowing up transatlantic airliners pleaded guilty yesterday to lesser offences of conspiring to cause explosions.

Abdulla Ahmed Ali, Assad Sarwar and Tanvir Hussain admitted involvement in a bomb plot as their long-running trial drew near its close at Woolwich Crown Court.

Along with two other men - Ibrahim Savant and Umar Islam - they also entered guilty pleas to a charge of conspiring to cause a public nuisance by recording apparent “martyrdom videos” threatening terrorist attacks.

But the men, along with three other defendants, continued to deny the central accusation against them of conspiracy to murder.

The Crown alleges that the eight accused formed a terrorist cell which intended to detonate liquid bombs on board seven crowded passenger jets flying from Heathrow to cities in the United States and Canada.

The jury has heard that the death toll in the skies could have reached 2,000 with many more dying on the ground if the planes came down over any of their destination cities.

The arrest of the men, in August 2006, led to a global airline security alert and introduced permanent restrictions on the carrying of liquids on board aircraft.

Peter Wright, QC, in his closing speech for the prosecution, said the defendants wanted to “shock the world... It was their chance to achieve immortality and notoriety in equal measure.” When they were arrested in a series of co-ordinated police raids preparations for the attacks were, allegedly, at an advanced stage.

Suicide videos had been recorded, flights had been researched and several of the plotters had applied for new passports. Bombmaking materials had been assembled and a bomb factory had been established in a flat in Walthamstow, east London.

Mr Wright said: “From the deployment of this evidence before you, we say you can be sure of the involvement of each of these men in a plot to murder as many civilian passengers as possible upon as many civilian aircraft as possible.

“And that some of these men were prepared to lose their life in achieving it whilst others were prepared to facilitate them in doing so in pursuit of a common goal.” He added: “Each was signed up to the cause, each was ready, willing and able to play their part in a deadly attack to bring about its successful and bloody conclusion.”

In their defence, Mr Ali and Mr Sarwar denied the bomb plot and said they planned to record a documentary highlighting injustices against Muslims in Iraq, Afghanistan and Lebanon.

They admitted planning a small explosion at the Houses of Parliament in which no one would be hurt. It was supposed to act as a publicity stunt to draw attention to their documentary.

The two men also considered other targets including gas terminals, oil refineries and airports, Mr Sarwar said.

Mr Ali and the five other men who recorded videos said they were acting the role of extremists and the footage would be woven into the video. Mr Hussain admitted that he agreed to appear in an al Qaeda-style video, but said he was shocked when he learned of the publicity bomb plot.

The defendants are: Mr Ali, 27, Waheed Zaman, 24 and Arafat Waheed Khan, 27, all from Walthamstow; Mr Sarwar, 28, High Wycombe, Bucks; Mr Hussain, 27, of Leyton, east London; Mohammed Gulzar, 26, of Barking, east London; Mr Savant, 27, of Stoke Newington, north London; and Mr Islam, aka Brian Young, 30, of Plaistow, east London.

The trial continues.

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