If the London bombers were foreign Islamist terrorists "sleeping" within the British population, as many believe, their neighbours probably saw them as "straightforward blokes", "unassuming family men", who were "friendly but never talkative".

These phrases were all applied to members of an al-Qaeda cell in Leicester, the trial of two of which in 2003 resulted in the first important convictions in the UK's domestic war against terror. It also gave a fascinating public insight into the milieu of Islamist terrorists operating in the UK. Predictably, the lives of jihadis living in Britain were furtive and based on multiple deceptions. What also emerged, as the judge and jury waded through seas of evidence, was just how shabby and mundane they were.