London ( CNN ) -- The attack on a soldier hacked to death on a London street has echoes of other plots on British soil in recent years . The victim of Wednesday 's attack in Woolwich was a serving soldier based at a nearby barracks , London police say , and the UK government is treating it as a suspected terrorist attack . In 2007 four men were imprisoned over a plot to kidnap and kill a British Muslim soldier on leave and behead him in a Birmingham garage . The group 's ringleader Parviz Khan intended to behead the soldier `` like a pig '' and release footage of the killing on the internet . Khan was later imprisoned for life and must serve a minimum of 14 years before he will be considered for release . Three other men , Basiru Gassama , Mohammed Irfan , and Hamid Elasmar , were handed down sentences of between two and seven years for their roles in the plot . High Court judge Mr Justice Henriques said Khan 's aim was to deter any Muslim from joining the British army . `` So rampant are your views , so excitable your temperament , so persuasive your tongue and so imbued with energy are you , it 's quite impossible to predict when , if ever , it will be safe for you to be released into the public , '' the Guardian quoted the judge as saying . `` It was a plot whose purpose was to undermine democratic government , to demoralize the British army and to destabilize recruitment , and to cause anguish to the then prime minister of the day and the loyal citizens of the country , '' the judge said . Prosecutors said Khan hoped to kidnap the Muslim soldier in Birmingham 's Broad Street entertainment quarter with the help of drug dealers . This is not the only recent example of serving soldiers being the targets of terrorist attacks . Last month three British-born men were imprisoned for between four and nine years for preparing acts of terrorism . The men , who pleaded guilty had discussed targeting Royal Wootton Bassett , a town that became a focal point for parades by UK troops returning from service in Afghanistan . The judge , Mr. Justice Simon , said they had shown themselves to be `` committed fundamentalists '' ready to kill . Muslim convert Richard Dart , a former BBC security guard , and co-defandant Imran Mahmood had discussed how to make explosives , with the western English town as a potential bombing target .
A serving British soldier is killed in London by two armed men . In recent years previous Islamist plots have targeted British soldiers on home soil . Comment: Western town is where soldiers are repatriated after returning from Afghanistan .