Liverpool suspect ‘began buying bomb parts at least seven months ago’
Police investigating the Liverpool hospital explosion say the suspected bomber began his plot at least seven months ago as a vicar’s wife who knew the dead man described him as “kind” and “gentle”.
Emad al-Swealmeen, 32, died after a homemade bomb police believe he had built and was carrying, exploded in a taxi outside Liverpool Women’s hospital. Police believe it is most likely he acted alone.
The incident has been declared as terrorism and police said on Wednesday, three days into their investigation, that the motive for his actions was still being investigated. Police said he had experienced episodes of mental ill-health and they were still trying to understand what part this played in the attack.
On Wednesday afternoon police extended a cordon surrounding a property in Sutcliffe Street where Swealmeen lived to the surrounding streets in Kensington. Police said that it was a precautionary measure to “allow officers to make an assessment of materials found in a property that we’ve been searching” and it was later removed.
The plot, counter-terrorism police said, had been potentially planned for a long time, with Swealmeen starting to buy the parts needed for the homemade bomb no later than April this year.
It will raise questions about whether he could have been spotted earlier as posing a danger to others and himself.
The Home Office is thought to have rejected Swealmeen’s latest claim of asylum in December 2020, after an initial claim was made in 2014. Many asylum seekers who are refused leave to remain are forced into destitution or homelessness.
A Mersey Care NHS foundation trust spokesman said: “We can confirm Emad Al-Swealmeen had previously accessed our services but was not a service user at the time of the incident.”
He contacted a local organisation to ask for clothing in April this year, the Guardian understands. The group, which supports asylum seekers, delivered the clothes to his address in Sutcliffe Street.
He had been granted permission to work in 2019, while his latest claim for asylum was pending, and got a job in a local pizza restaurant. It had not recorded any concerns over his behaviour or wellbeing.
Rev Mike Hindley welcomed him to Emmanuel church in Fazakerley in late 2016 when he was moved to the area.
Kate Hindley, his wife, said that she first met Swealmeen, who parishioners knew as Enzo, on Christmas Day 2016 when he attended a service. He was spending Christmas Day alone, so members of the congregation invited him to spend it with them.
“He was a regular attender on a Sunday and would always stay for tea and coffee afterwards, and chat,” she said.
As he wasn’t working at the time, Hindley said he could always be relied upon to help the vicar at church coffee mornings. He would bake cakes to sell at the church and completed a cake decoration course at the City of Liverpool college in the 2018/19 academic year. He had a diagnosed mental health condition, and he made “no secret” of his struggle, she said.
He had fairly good English and Hindley said she believed that he had spent time in Italy and in Dubai. She understood he had become separated from his family at some point, who she believed were in the Middle East.
“My experience of Enzo was that he was kind, he was quiet, he was gentle. He was friendly. Humble, likable, easy to be around, uncomplicated,” she said.
Hindley said she was “desperately sad” to hear of his possible involvement in Sunday’s explosion.
“The death of any friend is always pretty sad, isn’t it? And when you discover that someone you knew was taking their own life, that adds a whole extra level of sadness, doesn’t it? And then the thought that he was also attempting to take other people’s lives. I’m just heartbroken”.
Meanwhile Russ Jackson, assistant chief constable and head of counterterrorism policing in north-west England, said: “A complex picture is emerging over the purchases of the component parts of the device. We know that Al-Swealmeen rented the property from April this year and we believe relevant purchases have been made at least since that time.”
Counter-terrorism expert Raffaello Pantucci said seven months was an unusually long time for someone to be engaged in a plot.
Pantucci, senior associate fellow at the Royal United Services Institute, said: “Seven months is quite a long time for someone to sit on an idea and not tell anyone about it or show any signs of what they might be up to.” He added: “Lone actors are the heart of the threat now.”