JIHAD-TRAINED TEEN GUILTY OF TUBE BLAST
‘Bucket bomb’ injured 51
A TEENAGER “trained to kill” by Islamic State was yesterday convicted of planting a homemade bomb on a Tube train.
Iraqi immigrant Ahmed Hassan, 18, left the bomb containing 400g of high explosives in a bucket wrapped in a Lidl cool bag.
It exploded at Parsons Green station, west London, last September sending a fireball flying through a carriage that left 51 passengers with serious burns.
Prosecutors said it was “only a matter of luck” no-one died. Hassan denied attempting to murder 93 people, saying it was just a “fantasy” inspired by action films.
He built the bomb using Tupperware boxes, a vase and 2.2kg of knives, screwdrivers and nails after studying YouTube videos.
He claimed the device was designed to burn but not explode. But the Old Bailey heard he carried out the attack because he blamed the UK for his father’s death in Iraq in 2006.
The court heard he arrived in Britain in the back of a lorry in October 2015 and later told Home Office officials Islamic State had trained him to kill. Hassan, who lived with foster carers in Sunbury, Surrey, built the bomb in the summer holidays while they were away on holiday.
He bought some of the ingredients using a £20 Amazon voucher he received for being student of the year at Brookland’s College in Weybridge, Surrey.
He was convicted unanimously and will be sentenced at a later date.