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February 06 , 2026
Three Men Charged in London over Attack on Pakistani Dissidents
London: Three men accused of involvement in plots to attack two Pakistani dissidents at their homes have appeared in court.
Asaf Afsar, 40, Mark Regan, 53, and Liam McGarry, 25, were allegedly hired for a “sophisticated” plan to simultaneously assault Mirza Shahzad Akbar, a human rights lawyer, and the journalist Adil Raja, Westminster magistrates’ court heard.
Akbar was a member of the Pakistani cabinet under Imran Khan, the former prime minister who is now in prison. Raja is an outspoken critic of the Pakistani government and has written extensively about alleged corruption in Pakistan ’s military.
Hired attackers are said to have gone to the homes of both men in a plan to simultaneously assault them on Christmas Eve last year. Raja was not at his home in Chesham, Buckinghamshire, while Akbar was punched repeatedly in the face when he answered the door of his Cambridgeshire home, the court heard.
Asfar and Regan, both from Birmingham, are charged with two counts of conspiracy to cause actual bodily harm. McGarry, from Warwick, is charged with one count of conspiracy to cause actual bodily harm over the alleged attack on Akbar.
Warren Stanier, for the prosecution, said: ““Two men have been targeted in December. The Crown’s case is that these were planned, simultaneous assaults at 8am on that day, with plans to attend their home addresses and assault them on their doorsteps. The prosecution says this was a sophisticated and planned enterprise, to undertake these violent planned incidents.”
None of the men entered pleas at the brief hearing.
Four other men have been charged in connection with the investigation, including Regan’s 25-year-old son Louis, from Birmingham, who faces two charges of conspiracy to commit assault occasioning actual bodily harm.
Louis Regan is accused of being the person who attacked Akbar while disguised as a workman and wearing a mask, the court has heard.
Karl Blackbird, 40, from Bedworth, Warwickshire, is charged with two counts of conspiracy to commit assault occasioning actual bodily harm.
Clark McAulay, 39, from Coventry, faces one charge of conspiracy to commit assault occasioning actual bodily harm in relation to the incident in Chesham.
Doneto Brammer, a 21-year-old from Wood Green, north London, has been charged with possession of a prohibited weapon; conspiracy to commit arson with intent to endanger life, and conspiracy to commit arson being reckless as to whether life would be endangered.
Brammer is accused over a second incident on New Year’s Eve, when it is alleged Akbar’s home was set alight and Brammer was carrying a firearm.
Senior District Judge Paul Goldspring remanded Afsar, Mark Regan and McGarry in custody on Thursday, with an order that they join the other defendants at a hearing at the Old Bailey on February 13. - The Times
Courtesy The Times
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