Railway track was ‘potential target’ of terror bomb suspect Jury sees footage allegedly showing defendant climbing into nearby drain
CCTV footage said to show Birmingham terror suspect Zahid Hussain clambering into a storm drain near a railway line has been played to a crown court jury.
It was recorded in Alum Rock near a railway embankment used by trains on the West Coast mainline between Birmingham and London Euston.
The Crown claims the footage shows Hussain, who denies attempting to make a pressure cooker bomb, carrying a JD Sports bag while investigating the high-speed stretch of railway as a possible target.
An early morning Virgin Trains service passing Woodlands Road is seen shortly before the man shown on the film walks into a garden adjoining the railway.
The footage, filmed by cameras on a nearby house, shows him struggling to lever up the manhole cover with a crowbar into the drain.
Prosecutor Annabel Darlow QC told Birmingham Crown Court jurors: “If you look at the clothing and, in particular, the JD Sports bag, that can be matched to the defendant. It may be noted that one recurrent theme in the defendant’s activities and interests was undoubtedly railway lines. There is no evidence before descending indicating that Mr Hussain had formed a settled plan to attack a particular section of railway line but you may think that it would be reasonable to draw an inference that Mr Hussain had at the least contemplated the use of railway lines as a potential target for a terrorist attack.”
The trial heard that a US Army Guerrilla book found at Hussain’s home in Naseby Road, Alum Rock, was apparently bookmarked at a section covering attacks on railways.
The 29-year-old is alleged to have improvised detonator parts from fairy lights after being radicalised by videos of the war in Syria before his arrest in August 2015.
Hussain, 29, denies preparation of terrorist acts, two counts of making explosives and one of attempting to make explosives. The CCTV footage, found after a local resident spotted the manhole cover had been moved, was recorded in the early hours of July 31 and August 2, 2015.
Miss Darlow told the jury that the raised, curved section of track near the drain fitted categories in the Guerilla book listed as “effective” sites for a derailment.
Questioned about the manhole, Hussain allegedly told officers he had received “subliminal messages” telling him to search drains for an item, possibly a weapon.
(Proceeding)