RYANAIR BOMBER
First picture of would-be attacker with device in bag
Jury finds him guilty of attempt to blow up plane
A MAN has been found guilty of trying to blow up a Ryanair jet.
Nadeem Muhammad, 43, pictured for the first time, was found to have a crude bomb in his hand luggage.
Prosecutor Jonathan Sandiford said: “He intended to detonate it in the confines of the Boeing 737.”
WOULD-BE bomber Nadeem Muhammad’s device was capable of blowing a hole in the fuselage of a plane, according to experts.
The 43-year-old tried to smuggle the pipe bomb, made from a marker pen, pins and batteries, on to a Ryanair flight.
It was detected in his hand luggage and confiscated at Manchester airport, but a security blunder allowed Muhammad to board another flight from the UK just days later.
And aviation security expert Julian Bray said of his bomb last night: “It was a very small device, but if Muhammad had been sitting near the window, it would have blown a hole in the fuselage and possibly caused the severe depressurisation of the cabin.”
He added: “What I cannot understand is that not only did the security officer take the device off Muhammad, he was later allowed to board an aircraft.”
CCTV footage shows Pakistan-born Muhammad with his green bag at the airport. Muhammad, who held an Italian passport, was trying to fly to Bergamo – where he ran a car repair business – when he was stopped on January 30.
His “crude but viable” device was sewn into the lining of his bag. It was made from the sealed barrel of a marker pen, contained nitroglycerin and nitrocellulose, dressmaking pins and batteries, and held together with masking tape.
A security manager initially put the bomb into her pocket before passing it to police. A swab was taken to check for explosives but came back negative. Muhammad denied knowledge of the device and was allowed to return to his home in Bury before later flying to Italy.
While he was away further tests were carried out on the 15cm bomb. Explosives expert Lorna Philp said it had the potential to cause injury.
Prosecutors said Muhammad intended to detonate the device during the Ryanair flight to Bergamo on a Boeing 737, which holds 189 passengers.
He was arrested on arrival from Milan back at Manchester airport on February 12, and later claimed the bomb was planted by a relative after he let them borrow his bag. Muhammad wept as jurors at Manchester crown court yesterday found him guilty of possession of explosives with intent to endanger life or property after 16 hours’ deliberation.
Police admitted “errors” in the initial probe. Supt Graeme Openshaw, Greater Manchester Police, said: “We’ve reviewed the way we respond to suspicious items found during the security process and a number of changes have been made.”
Sue Hemming, Crown Prosecution Service’s counter terror chief, said while Muhammad’s motive was unknown, “It is clear the consequences, had he been successful, could have been disastrous”.
A Whitehall source said Muhammad was not believed to be a threat to national security and was “not being treated as being in connection with any terrorist organisation”.
Manchester Airport said its security teams had “prevented a potentially dangerous item from being taken on board an aircraft”. Muhammad is in custody until sentencing on August 23.