A tribunal found the former delivery driver, known as J4, had shown a “plain inference” of intent to attack the Danish politician. MI5 accepted he had taken no practical steps towards doing so.
A former delivery driver has lost his fight to regain British citizenship after MI5 branded him a “terror threat”. The man, known as J4, discussed a plot against Rasmus Paludan, a hard-right Danish politician, on WhatsApp in March 2023. Mr Paludan had announced plans to burn a Koran in Wakefield, West Yorkshire. The Special Immigration Appeals Commission upheld the decision to strip J4 of his citizenship. His identity is protected by an anonymity order, which judges said was “necessary” for his safety.
The messages and the arrest
The tribunal heard that J4 shared an Instagram link about Mr Paludan and said he was “gonna try” to attend the demonstration. He said he would “not protest” but “attack that kuffar”, a derogatory term for non-Muslims. He was soon arrested but released on bail. The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) later lifted his bail conditions and took no further action.
GB News reported that MI5 officials then recommended removing his citizenship after he travelled abroad on a British passport. They believed the exchange showed he wanted to commit Islamist terrorist violence in Britain or overseas.
What the tribunal decided
J4’s lawyers argued that he had no intention of carrying out violence and was simply someone who “shoots his mouth off”. The judges disagreed, saying the messages were a “plain inference” of his intention to attack Mr Paludan. They ruled that he should not keep his citizenship, even though his mother and brothers remain in the UK.
According to InView, which reported the proceedings, the judicial panel led by Mrs Justice Farbey also found that J4 had lied to his own solicitor during the case. The report does not say what he told the solicitor. It also reports that MI5 accepted he had not taken practical steps towards an attack, and considered the deprivation to have “effectively disrupted” his ability to engage in Islamist terrorism in Britain. The difference between an assessed intention and an attempted act is central to the case.
After he was stripped of citizenship, J4 was told to return his passport within 31 days. He kept it, the source says, and later used it to obtain overseas resident permits.
How such decisions are made
The research notes say J4 was outside Britain when the decision was served, and had no chance to challenge it beforehand, with his appeal following afterwards. The Home Office’s published guidance says some national-security cases can proceed without advance notice under section 40(5A) of the British Nationality Act. That describes the mechanism and does not confirm that this exception was used against J4. A Supreme Court ruling in February 2025, N3 and ZA v Secretary of State for the Home Department, confirmed that appeal bodies must decide for themselves whether deprivation would leave someone stateless. There is no sign J4 raised that argument.
I could not find the full judgment, J4’s other nationality, the date of the order, where he now lives, whether MI5 relied on other evidence, or whether he will seek to appeal further.
The Wakefield background
In February 2023, four pupils at a Wakefield school were suspended after a copy of the Koran was slightly damaged. The episode drew national attention, and death threats against the boys were reported. A government-commissioned study later examined it in research on blasphemy-related extremism. It records that mosque representatives, including from Jamia Masjid Swafia, rejected violence or intimidation.
Mr Paludan, 44, founded the anti-Islam party Stram Kurs (Hard Line) in 2017 and is known for provocative demonstrations in which he burns copies of the Koran. In March 2023 he posted a video saying he intended to travel to Wakefield to burn one in a public square. Local authorities and public figures, including Wakefield MP Simon Lightwood, worked to stop him. According to Hansard, the then security minister Tom Tugendhat told the Commons on 20 March 2023 that the government had placed Mr Paludan on its warnings index, ruling that his presence would not be conducive to the public good. That meant he would be refused entry.
In spring 2022, Mr Paludan toured Sweden, publicly burning the Koran in areas with large immigrant populations, which provoked violent counter-protests and riots. He has faced repeated legal action. He was sentenced to four months in prison in November 2024 for two counts of incitement against an ethnic group and one of insult. In 2020 he received a one-month sentence, suspended for two months, after being found guilty of 14 charges including racism, defamation and dangerous driving. The same year, he was expelled from France after signalling an intent to burn a Koran in Paris, and was then arrested and expelled from Belgium and given a two-year entry ban from Sweden.
