Six deny plot to attack Pakistani dissidents in UK

Six men have denied being involved in plots to attack two Pakistani dissidents at their homes in the UK.

Karl Blackbird, 41, Dylan Martin, 33, Clark McCaulay, 39, Liam McGarry, 26, Louis Regan, 26, and his father, Mark Regan, 53, are accused of being part of a plan to assault human rights lawyer Mirza Shahzad Akbar and journalist Adil Raja.

Akbar was previously a member of the cabinet under jailed former Pakistani prime minister Imran Khan, while Raja is an outspoken critic of the current Pakistani government.

Blackbird, of Bedworth, McCaulay, from Coventry, McGarry, of Warwick, the father and son, both from Birmingham, and Martin face trial next year at Nottingham Crown Court.

At the Old Bailey on Friday, Blackbird, McGarry and the Regans each denied conspiracy to assault Akbar and occasion him actual bodily harm.

Blackbird, McCaulay and the father and son also denied the same charge in relation to Raja.

It is said groups of hired attackers went to the homes of both men in a plan to simultaneously assault them at 08:00 GMT on Christmas Eve last year.

Martin denied attempted arson on Akbar's home, and possession of a revolver, linked to an incident in Cambridgeshire on New Year's Eve 2025.

Asid Afsar, 40, from Birmingham, and Doneto Brammer, 22, of London, who are also charged in connection with the incidents, would enter pleas at a later date, the court heard.

All the defendants were remanded into custody.

The Regans, Blackbird, McGarry and McCaulay face trial on 12 January at Nottingham Crown Court.

Martin and Brammer face trial at the same court on 8 March.

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