Man jailed for knife attack on gardaí and setting Conor McGregor’s pub on fire

Abdullah Khan (24) has been jailed for 6½ years for setting fire to a pub owned by Conor McGregor and attacking two gardaí with a knife on a Dublin street. Judge Karen O’Connor, presiding at the three-judge Special Criminal Court, imposed strict post-release conditions requiring Khan to engage with the probation services for four years after he has served his time in prison.O’Connor noted a report which stated that the primary objective of Khan’s probation is to support him to disengage from people involved in radical behaviours and ideologies. His post-release supervision, the judge said, is deemed necessary to ensure public protection.The judge sentenced Khan, a self-described jihadi, for eight separate offences, with each sentence to run concurrently. On a charge that he engaged in terrorist activity by setting fire to the Black Forge Inn, Drimnagh Road, Dublin 12, she imposed a sentence of seven years and six months with the final year suspended for four years.READ MOREKhan, with an address in Dublin that cannot be published due to a court order, was charged that on July 25th, 2025, at the Black Forge Inn, he committed arson by pouring petrol on the front door of the pub and lighting it with a match. He was further charged that four days later, on July 29th, 2025, at Capel Street, he assaulted Garda Gary Lynch causing him harm and attempted to assault Garda Patrick Nevin. He was further charged with producing a knife during the same incident and two counts of endangerment, in that he intentionally or recklessly engaged in conduct which created a substantial risk of death or serious harm to the two gardaí. Khan was also charged with two counts of engaging in terrorist activity or terrorist-linked activity on the dates of each offence. He pleaded guilty to all offences.When the case came before the court in April, Det Insp Gavin Ross told Gerardine Small, prosecuting, that Khan was part of a wider group of like-minded radicals.