Terror mastermind Dhiren Barot was sentenced to life in prison today for plotting to kill thousands of people in numerous terrorist plots.

During his sentencing remarks, Justice Butterfield said the following to Barot:

"This was no noble cause. Your plans were to bring indiscriminate carnage, bloodshed and butchery first in Washington, New York and Newark, and thereafter the U.K., on a colossal and unprecedented scale."

He continued, "Your intention was not simply to cause damage, panic or fear. Your intention was to murder, but it went further. It was designed to strike at the very heart of democracy and the security of the state. And if successful, would have affected thousands personally, millions indirectly and ultimately the whole nation of the U.S. and the U.K."

The judge added: "The proposals make chilling reading. They were set out like business plans, as if corporate reports going to head office. So, in a sense, they were, but they were dealing not with a business proposition -- they were concerned with murder, with the incalculable loss of
blameless life."

Justice Butterfield described Barot, who sat impassively at the back of the court, staring straight ahead, during the lengthy sentencing remarks, as a "determined, dedicated and highly dangerous" individual.

The judge told Barot that if he had been passing a determinate sentence, it would have been 80 years, but as he had passed a life sentence, the tariff he attached was half that, a minimum of 40 years in jail before Barot can be considered for release.

Click here to see the evidence against Barot presented in court.