Horror that showed us the best – and worst – of Britain

THERE is something about the case of emad Al Swealmeen, the Syrian asylum seeker who tried — and mercifully failed — to blow up Liverpool Women’s hospital that speaks of the best and worst of Britain.

First, the best. The incredible generosity of the Liverpudlian couple, Malcolm and elizabeth hitchcott, who hosted him in their home when he was destitute.

The community that, in 2015, welcomed him into their midst at Liverpool’s Anglican cathedral, where he eventually converted to Christianity in 2017.

The taxi driver, David Perry, who realised something wasn’t quite right about the behaviour of his passenger, and who warned others to stay away even as he himself was reeling from the blast.

And, last but not least, the British taxpayer, whose largesse meant Al Swealmeen was living in relative comfort at a hostel.

From start to finish, a tale of trust, generosity and faith in a stranger who had sought refuge. This open-minded, open-hearted community treated him with kindness and respect.

There are people like the hitchcotts the length and breadth of this country: good people whose actions are not guided by prejudice or fear, but simply by a desire to help.

They’re not bleeding-heart liberals, or virtue-signalling attention seekers. Just ordinary people trying to do a little bit of good.

SADLY, they are also proof of this old cynic’s favourite adage: no good deed goes unpunished. And so to the worst. Al Swealmeen. We don’t yet know enough to truly fathom his motives or his intentions. As things stand he has not been linked to any terror organisation or group.

It may be that ultimately he was simply a deeply unstable individual who, frustrated with the system and angry that his attempts to claim asylum had been rejected, lost his mind and decided to exact some kind of twisted revenge.

There were certainly a few red flags along the way, not least his arrest for carrying a knife in 2014, and a notable incident later on, while living with the hitchcotts, when he became very agitated at the thought that they might have opened his mail.

Mr hitchcott said: ‘I told him we wouldn’t dream of it. he had received a small package, he told me it was for a friend.. .makes me wonder about it now.’

It makes us all wonder. And perhaps we will never know the truth. But let’s not forget, he intended to kill and maim. Last night, there were suspicions he built a bomb using the same highly explosive material favoured by the 7/7 bombers who targeted London in 2005.

Britain has always behaved generously towards those who take refuge on our islands. We are a humanitarian country and it is for that reason so many flock to these shores: it’s not just that our Government treats refugees so generously, it’s also that our communities are, compared to countries such as Italy and France, so overwhelmingly welcoming.

But people like Al Swealmeen test us. They undermine and threaten to destroy our fundamental values, and make us question the Christian principles that underpin our society. We must not let them.

We must be alert to the risks. Otherwise it’s only a matter of time before it happens again. And next time we might not be so lucky.