THE high-profile security operation in place to transport Mohammed Nisar 'Meggy' Khan to and from HMP Wakefield culminated with him leaving Bradford Crown Court today with a helicopter hovering above his armed cavalcade and a big crowd looking on.

Throughout the five-week trial, two armed police officers stood guard at the court entrance while two more patrolled the perimeter of the building.

Everyone going into Court Three, where the defendants sat in a secure dock, passed through a metal detector and many were searched by security staff.

On the first day of the trial, before the jury was sworn in, Khan’s barrister, Simon Csoka QC, described the cortege of vehicles and motorcycles passing through Bradford with sirens blaring as an “ostentatious parade into town.”

RELATED STORIES:

The defence lawyers also raised concerns about the number of dock officers surrounding the defendants in sight of the jurors. Adjustments were made to the amount of security staff and to where they were seated.

During the trial, the media were barred from publishing photos or videos of the armed officers guarding the court building or the high security procession transporting Khan to and from Bradford.

Later in the trial, Mr Csoka said the number of police officers had doubled and security in the cells had also been stepped up.

Each lawyer had to wait behind a locked door to be searched individually before going in.

Mr Csoka told Judge Jonathan Durham Hall QC he was forced to read a sheet of paper saying what he could and could not take into the cell every time he visited Khan.

“I can only interpret it as deliberately antagonistic. This is not something you need to read even when visiting Wakefield Prison,” he said.