Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
‘Pipe bomb in my pocket for safekeeping’
AN airport security manager put a pipe bomb in her pocket “so it would not go missing” as she quizzed the man found with it in his luggage, a court heard.
Deborah Jeffrey was called after the marker pen shell, which turned out to be stuffed with pins and propellent, was found in Nadeem Muhammad’s bag at Manchester airport.
At Manchester crown court, she said: “It was about nine inches long, was wrapped in masking tape and had two wires coming out of the end of it.”
The prosection said Muhammad, 43, of Bury, Gtr Manchester, planned to detonate the “crude but viable improvised pipe bomb” on a Ryanair flight.
He denies having it with intent to endanger life. The trial continues. CHRIS Packham has slammed Arsenal FC owner Stan Kroenke’s sick trophy hunting TV channel as “psychopathic” and “ugly”.
The conservationist and TV presenter spoke as the US billionaire faced a backlash over the My Outdoor TV streaming service’s UK launch last weekend.
Its vile shows feature animals including lions and elephants being stalked and shot by professional hunters.
Springwatch host Chris said Arsenal FC sponsor Emirates should “exert some pressure” on the club. He said: “I’m sure an otherwise premium airline wouldn’t want to be associated with this celebration of slaughter of some of the world’s most beautiful species.”
My Outdoor TV is part of Us-based Outdoor Sportsman Group, owned by Gunners majority shareholder Kroenke, and a subscription costs £7.60 a month.
Chris, 56, said: “What an ugly scenario – trophy hunting on UK television and so out of touch with the modern mood.
ON OPPOSING VILE CHANNEL
As wildlife becomes rarer people are growing intolerant of wasting it by killing it for fun. The response to Cecil the lion’s death and to fox hunting and raptor persecution in the UK prove this.
“And the ‘hunter as conservationist’ line is largely a tired old lie they still trot out to justify their psychopathic need to kill defenceless things for pleasure.
“It would be nice to see Emirates exert some pressure because of the Arsenal connection.”
Presenter Ben Fogle called for Arsenal fans to boycott the club. He said on Good Morning Britain: “My problem is that it glorifies hunting. With young people suddenly having access to the hunting of elephants in Africa, whether people argue this is legal or not, it’s unethical and I don’t think that we should be promoting this.
“Stan Kroenke, as a billionaire philanthropist, I think he should be focusing on putting money into conservation.
“It’s still glorifying blood sports. You can’t underestimate the power of television. Television is a medium that makes everything very glamorous.
“If you glamorise someone out with a bow and arrow shooting a bear or someone hunting an elephant, whether it’s for conservation – whether you can argue that or not – it’s still glorifying murder, the killing of a beautiful animal that’s endangered.”
Ben, 43, added: “All the Arsenal supporters… your money is going into supporting hunting, whether you like it or not. I’m calling for a boycott, please.”
And GMB presenter Eamonn Holmes, 57, said the trophy hunting channel made him “sick”. Brandishing a copy of the Mirror’s front page, he said: “What I’ve seen, that’s made my blood run cold.
“That headline, people who pose as trophy hunters beside things like that. It makes me sick. I think a man who’s in charge of Arsenal has a social responsibility not to be peddling that.”
Outdoor Sportsman Group president and chief executive Jim Liberatore said the channel is “a subscription, video-ondemand service that caters to viewers that enjoy outdoor lifestyle content”.
He added: “We advocate and televise only legal, ethical and fair-chase hunting, while also educating viewers about conservation practices and game management that are underlying elements of the programming.”