‘Bomber’ facing long jail term
A FORMER altar boy faces a lengthy jail term after he was convicted of planting a bomb on a London tube train.
Damon Smith, a 20-yearold Asperger’s sufferer who is obsessed with weapons, built the device with a £2 clock from Tesco after Googling an Al Qaeda article titled “Make A Bomb In The Kitchen Of Your Mom”.
He denied possession of an explosive substance with intent but admitted making a bomb hoax.
Smith’s lawyer told jurors at the Old Bailey he was no “hate-filled jihadi” and never meant to harm anyone.
But the jury rejected his explanation and yesterday found Smith guilty of the more serious charge.
On the morning of October 20 last year Smith, then 19, packed a rucksack with explosives and ball bearings as he left for college in Holloway, north London.
He was caught on CCTV travelling on a Jubilee Line train. He alighted, leaving the bag on the floor, the bomb timed to go off within minutes. At least 10 people were in the carriage. Some of them spotted the rucksack and alerted the driver, who initially dismissed it as lost property. He took it into his cab as he carried on towards North Greenwich.
On the way he spotted wires coming out of the bag and raised the alarm. Had Smith’s bomb worked, it would have exploded just as commuters were being ordered off the platform.
Upon his arrest, the student admitted making the bomb but claimed he only meant it to spew smoke as a Halloween joke.
He told police he had been inspired by watching someone on YouTube making a prank bomb.
A search of Smith’s home in Rotherhithe, south London, revealed his fixation with weapons and explosives.
Judge Richard Marks adjourned sentencing until May 26 to allow time for reports on Smith’s risk to the public.