ADVERTISEMENT

Iraqi asylum seeker guilty

Ahmed Hassan constructed his homemade bomb "with the aim of indiscriminately killing as many people as possible," said Sue Hemming from the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) after the jury at London's Old Bailey delivered their verdict.

Hassan left the improvised bucket bomb filled with screwdrivers, knives, nuts, bolts and "Mother of Satan" TATP explosives in a carriage carrying 93 passengers on September 15, last year.

It partially exploded at Parsons Green tube station in west London, one stop after he had alighted.

Dean Haydon, head of Scotland Yard's Counter Terrorism Command, called Hassan "an intelligent and articulate individual that is devious and cunning in equal measures.

ADVERTISEMENT

"He kept secret what he was planning and plotting. We describe him as a lone actor."

Commuter Stephen Nash earlier told jurors that he was on his way to work when he experienced a "blinding flash" before being "engulfed in flames".

"I was thrown to the ground," he said. "The flames were overwhelming... It was intense heat, I thought I had lost my ears, I thought my head was on fire."

Fellow witness Aimee Colville said she heard a "loud bang" and "cracking" before "a wall of glass came across".

"That morning I had curled my hair and I had put hairspray in my hair so when the flames came over me my hair immediately caught fire," she added.

ADVERTISEMENT

Fugitive fantasy

Hassan told jurors that he didn't intend to hurt people, and that he was "bored and stressed" and wanted to start a fire.

"It became kind of a fantasy in my head. I was thinking about it," he said.

"I was watching documentaries as well, about fugitives and just the idea of being a fugitive got into my head."

Prosecutors showed the jury Hassan's online purchase history, which included chemicals, along with CCTV footage from the day before the attack showing him buying shrapnel items.

ADVERTISEMENT

Hassan arrived in Britain in October 2015. He told authorities he was in fear of the Islamic State group which he said had taken him by force in Iraq and trained him "how to kill".

He was given a home by foster parents Penny and Ron Jones, and studied media and photography at Brooklands College in Weybridge, south of London.

His college mentor contacted the anti-terror programme Prevent after Hassan said it was his "duty to hate Britain".

He assembled the bomb while his elderly foster parents were on holiday, using money from a school prize to buy the chemicals.

The partially exploded bomb sent a fireball down the carriage, which left passengers with burns, while others were injured in the resulting stampede.

ADVERTISEMENT

Hassan then destroyed his phone and fled to the port town of Dover, where police picked him up with more than £2,000 ($2,794, 2,266 euros) in cash.

Following the verdict, Hassan was remanded in custody with a sentencing date to be set next week.

JOIN OUR PULSE COMMUNITY!

Unblock notifications in browser settings.
ADVERTISEMENT

Eyewitness? Submit your stories now via social or:

Email: eyewitness@pulse.ng

Recommended articles

Gov Alia vows to demolish property housing kidnappers, Yahoo boys in Benue

Gov Alia vows to demolish property housing kidnappers, Yahoo boys in Benue

Tinubu appoints former Rivers lawmaker, ex-Naval officer as heads of NESREA, NDRBDA

Tinubu appoints former Rivers lawmaker, ex-Naval officer as heads of NESREA, NDRBDA

Court accuses EFCC boss of contempt over handling of Yahaya Bello's case

Court accuses EFCC boss of contempt over handling of Yahaya Bello's case

Fubara donates ₦350m as Navy moves training headquarters from Lagos to Rivers

Fubara donates ₦350m as Navy moves training headquarters from Lagos to Rivers

Bandits invade Defence Minister's hometown, kill 1, abduct scores

Bandits invade Defence Minister's hometown, kill 1, abduct scores

Cardiologist bags 4-year jail term over patient deaths

Cardiologist bags 4-year jail term over patient deaths

We must continue to support President Tinubu - Ododo tells Kogi residents

We must continue to support President Tinubu - Ododo tells Kogi residents

Tinubu appoints Zenith Bank founder Jim Ovia to chair student loan fund

Tinubu appoints Zenith Bank founder Jim Ovia to chair student loan fund

Husband begs IGP to find his wife who went missing on official police duty

Husband begs IGP to find his wife who went missing on official police duty

ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT