Jailed, doomsday binman with 250 bombs
A BINMAN who feared Britain was on the brink of war was jailed yesterday for stockpiling 250 home-made bombs.
Reeco Fernandez, 29, assembled an arsenal of improvised explosive devices at the house he shared with his parents.
As well as a hoard of explosives, he stockpiled modified fireworks, arrow heads, ration packs, military clothing and a bulletproof vest.
The array of hardware was uncovered after a series of explosions in his bedroom last September.
Stockpiled
Terrified neighbours heard bangs followed by a loud boom and smoke coming from the house. Fernandez suffered 22 per cent burns as he fought flames at the property in Bedminster, Bristol.
The incident prompted a massive evacuation of residents, Bristol Crown Court heard.
Police and firefighters searched the premises and discovered explosive black powder, flash powder and highly explosive chemical compound ENT.
Officers also found empty grenades, quantities of ball bearings, dismantled fireworks and a notebook containing IED “recipes”.
Footage on his mobile phone showed Fernandez experimenting with explosives, including some involving ball bearings, in a wood close to his home in 2016 and 2017.
The police search was so thorough, some neighbours were unable to return to their homes for five days.
Fernandez admitted possessing explosives and was jailed for three years and four months yesterday.
Fearing a period of “war and famine,” he had stockpiled an arsenal of bombs and kept them in his bedroom, under the stairs and in the garden shed, the court heard.
Calling himself a survivalist, he sometimes lived in a bivouac in a nearby wood.
Rachel Drake, prosecuting, told Mr Justice Dingemans there was no suggestion Fernandez ever had links to terrorism.
His IEDs posed a “significant risk to people and property,” said Ms Drake. Mary Cowe, defending, told the court Fernandez did not realise just how dangerous he had become.
A psychologist found the binman had an “eccentric belief about what the future holds,” Ms Cowe said.
“He talked about being told in 2013 that a period of war and famine was coming and he could do something about it,” she added.
Fernandez has apologised for his actions saying he had wanted to help others and make his family proud. The blast and fire scarred him for life and he spent two weeks in hospital.
Mr Justice Dingemans said: “The explosion was an immensely misguided act which exposed yourself and others who you loved and your neighbours to real harm.”
But the judge ruled the blast was an accident and Fernandez had no intention of injuring others.