Daily Mail

Businessma­n tried to take pipe bomb on Ryanair jet in hand luggage

- By Richard Marsden

An airline passenger tried to smuggle a homemade pipe bomb on to a Ryanair flight in a ‘likely suicide attack’.

who Businessma­nis Pakistani-born nadeem but Muhammad,holds Italian citizenshi­p, was found with the ‘crude but viable’ device in his hand luggage at Manchester Airport.

The father of five, 43, may have intended to detonate the bomb on a jet bound for Bergamo, near Milan, on January 30, a court heard.

It was seized by security as he tried to board the plane but – remarkably – Muhammad was released and allowed days later on to another flight.

It was only after a more detailed examinatio­n that police realised what it was and he was arrested on his return to Britain. The device, inside a tube 6inlong by 1in-wide, contained an estimated 10 g of nitroglyce­rine and nitrocellu­lose explosives, which could be set off by joining two wires together.

Muhammad, of Bury, Greater Manchester, claimed he knew nothing about the bomb and during his sevenday trial even tried to claim one of his children – the youngest of whom is 11 – could have put it in his green suitcase.

But yesterday jurors at Manchester Crown Court found him guilty by 10-2 majority verdict of possession of an explosive device with intent to endanger life or property.

The crime carries a maximum sentence of life imprisonme­nt. Adjourning sentence until August 23, Judge Patrick Field QC told him: ‘You have been found guilty of a grave and serious offence.’

Muhammad, whose wife was in court throughout the trial, cried loudly as he was remanded in custody. The family only came to Britain last year under EU freedom of movement rules.

Police and counter-terrorism officials have been unable to establish whether Muhammad, who runs a car repair business in Italy, had links with any specific terrorist organisati­ons and he had no previous conviction­s. Jonathan Sandiford, prosecutin­g, said: ‘Muhammad attempted to carry an assembled and viable improvised explosive device through security at the airport and on to the Ryanair flight. ‘It is a matter of common sense that the only reason he would have tried to get that device on to the aeroplane was that he intended to detonate it in the confine soft he Boeing 737, en dangering the lives of the passenger son board and causing damage to the aircraft itself.’ Mr Sandiford said the ‘idea behind the device’ was that it would be exploded by someone joining the two wires together and completing an electrical circuit. He added: ‘We accept it was crude and would have been unreliable but it was intended to be and was capable of being a viable explosive device.’ However, Mr Sandiford admitted Muhammad’s motive for his ‘likely suicide mission’ was unknown.

After the case, Superinten­dent Graeme Openshaw, of Greater Manchester Police, paid tribute to the effectiven­ess of security procedures at Manchester Airport in spotting the pipe bomb.

However questions will be asked as to why Muhammad was released and cleared to fly to Italy five days later after an initial examinatio­n failed to discover the explosives.

It was only after a more detailed inspection that the truth was revealed, with one forensic expert ‘immediatel­y suspecting it was more sinister’.

Pat Karney, a councillor at Manchester City Council, called for an inquiry into how Muhammad could be let go and allowed on a plane after such a discovery.

Crown Prosecutio­n Service spokesman Sue Hemming said: ‘Despite extensive investigat­ion, nadeem Muhammad’s motive for attempting to take this device on to a plane remains unknown.

‘However it is clear that the consequenc­es, had he been successful, could have been disastrous.’

‘Crude but viable explosive’

 ??  ?? Petition: President Emmanuel Macron and his wife Brigitte
Petition: President Emmanuel Macron and his wife Brigitte
 ??  ?? Plot: Nadeem Muhammad drags the bomb in his suitcase through Manchester Airport
Plot: Nadeem Muhammad drags the bomb in his suitcase through Manchester Airport

Newspapers in English

Newspapers from United Kingdom