Edward Little, from Brighton, planned to buy a gun to kill a Christian preacher and her camera crew at Speakers' Corner as well as any police or soldiers in the area at the time, it was alleged.

He had looked up different guns and their capabilities and arranged to buy one for £5,000, and was on his way into London in a taxi with thousands of pounds in cash when he was stopped and arrested on 23 September, last year.

Earlier this year, he denied preparing to commit acts of terrorism but changed his plea and admitted the charge on Friday at the Old Bailey in central London via video link from Belmarsh prison.

The prosecution asserted Little researched targets including Christian preacher Hatun Tash, military figures and members of the Metropolitan Police.

But defence lawyer Tom Godfrey said Little only accepted targeting the preacher.

On the day of the failed plot he paid a taxi driver £300 to take him to Lewisham in south London, the court was told.

He had asked him to stop at a mosque so he could pray - but had to do it inside the vehicle when it transpired there were none on route.

Police found an encrypted chat on one of the phones he was arrested with.

It showed him going by the name "Abdullah" and exchanging messages about religion, Iraq and "kuffar" - a word used to describe non-Muslims.

'Absolutely shocking' criminal record

Little refused to answer questions in his police interviews but became violent when shown a YouTube image of the preacher he had been targeting.

He admitted assaulting one of the police officers at Newbury Police Station on 28 September last year and was sentenced to 40 weeks in prison - reduced to eight months on appeal.

At a previous hearing, a judge described his "absolutely shocking" criminal record.

It included 14 offences for robbery, possession of a knife and drug dealing, dating back to 2017.

Judge Mr Justice Baker remanded Little in custody until his sentencing on 21 July.