Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
Guilt y .. altar boy who left ‘horrific’ bomb on train
Autistic student, 20, faces jail over ‘prank’ explosive device
A Weapons-obsessed student is facing jail after he was found guilty of planting a home-made bomb on a Tube train. Former altar boy Damon Smith built the device with a £2 clock from Tesco, after reading an online al-qaeda article entitled Make A Bomb In The Kitchen Of Your Mom. A jury at the Old Bailey, Central London, took two hours to find Smith, 20, guilty of possession of an explosive substance with intent. Smith, who has Asperger’s syndrome, made no reaction in the dock as the verdict was given. Sue Hemming, of the Crown Prosecution Service, said: “Although he claimed this was a prank, the bomb he left on the train was clearly designed to cause horrific injuries.” Commander Dean Haydon, of the Met’s Counter Terrorism Command, said: “It is hard to believe that leaving what has been described as an improvised explosive device on a Tube train, on a weekday morning, can be construed as anything but an attempt to endanger life. “It is fortunate the device failed to work and that no one was injured.” On the morning of October 20, last year, Smith, then aged 19, packed a rucksack with explosives and ball-bearing shrapnel and headed to college in Holloway, North London. He was caught on CCTV as he travelled on the Jubilee Line before getting off and leaving the bomb on the floor, timed to go off within minutes. At least 10 passengers were in the carriage and some of them spotted the abandoned rucksack and alerted the driver. Had Smith’s bomb worked, it would have exploded just as commuters were being ordered off the platform, the jury heard. Smith admitted making the bomb, but claimed he only meant it to spew harmless smoke as a Halloween joke. He told police he had been inspired by a Youtube channel called Trollstation. A search of Smith’s home in Rotherhithe, South East London, revealed his fixation with guns, explosives and other weapons. Police seized a blank-firing selfloading pistol and a BB gun, both bought legally, as well as a knuckleduster and a knife. Smith watched Youtube videos on explosions and posted a picture of himself on Facebook in a Guy Fawkes mask holding handcuffs. He was not charged under the Terrorism Act as there was not enough evidence the crime was politically motivated. In his defence, extracts of a psychiatric report were read out confirming an autism spectrum disorder. He will be sentenced later this month.
The bomb he left on the train was clearly designed to cause injuries SUE HEMMING CROWN PROSECUTION SERVICE