The trial against the four footballers is taking place at the Old Bailey (Reuters)
The bulk of the evidence in the Erol Incedal's trial will remain a secret

A British law student who was found guilty in a "secret" terror trial has been sentenced to three years and six months in jail after being convicted of possessing a bomb-making manual.

Erol Incedal, 27, was cleared following a retrial of plotting to kill former prime minister Tony Blair or carry out a "Mumbai style" terror attack in the UK.

The man from London was convicted in 2014 of possessing material likely to be useful to a terrorist after he was found with the bomb-making document on a memory card.

Incedal continued to face trial over the more serious accusations of plotting to kill Blair in a terrorist attack until he was cleared on the remaining charges in March.

His friend Mounir Rarmoul-Bouhadjar, 27, was sentenced to three years after he admitted the same offence after having an identical terrorist document.

The case became a legal first in the UK after the Crown attempted to hold the entire trial in secret. This appeal was rejected following a challenge by the media but restrictions were imposed that meant some proceedings were never made public.

A large bulk of the evidence will never be revealed after Judge Justice Nicol threw out an application to get the reporting restrictions in the trial lifted prior to sentencing. Prosecutors told the Court of Appeal that it would be in the interest of national safety that the prosecution was made public, with no further details being available.

The trial at the Old Bailey was split into three parts – public, private with 10 journalists present but not allowed to report on any details, and the third completely secret section of the trial.

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