Terror suspect was ‘bedroom radicalised’

A would-be terrorist tried to make a pressure-cooker bomb and improvised detonator parts from fairy lights after being radicalised by videos of the war in Syria, a court has heard.

Zahid Hussain, from Birmingham, is alleged to have researched railway lines as a potential target before his arrest in August 2015.

A trial at the city’s Crown Court was told Hussain, 29, wrongly believed his nonviable “bomb” – packed with shrapnel – was capable of causing devastation.

Hussain, formerly of Naseby Road, Alum Rock, denies preparation of terrorist acts, two counts of making explosives and one of attempting to make explosives.

Opening the case against Hussain at the start of a five-week trial, prosecution QC Annabel Darlow said the defendant also attempted to create a remotecontrol “initiator” for a device by modifying a wireless doorbell.

Alleging that the defendant had become “bedroom radicalised” at his computer, Miss Darlow told the court: “After his computer was recovered, material showed that Mr Hussain held a pronounced interest in Islamic State and events in Syria.

“In his own words he had become bedroom radicalised – turned into a radical by material he had accessed in his own bedroom.”

Jurors were told that Hussain was arrested on August 9 after reports of a man carrying a hammer and behaving suspiciously in Anthony Road, Alum Rock.

He was taken to a police station where officers found he was in possession of handwritten recipes for explosives, a modified fairy light, and a hand-drawn map showing a drainage chamber in Alum Rock.

Officers then went to his home where they found an “improvised laboratory“and four allegedly viable igniters fashioned from fairy lights, the court heard.

Hussain is alleged to have engaged in conduct in preparation for giving effect to an intention to commit an act of terrorism in the UK or assist another to do so.

The trial will continue on Friday.

Zahid Hussain