Man jailed after bomb found at airport

A MAN has been jailed for 18 years for possessing an explosive with intent to endanger life after a pipe bomb was found in his hand luggage at Manchester Airport.

Nadeem Muhammad, 43, was sentenced at Manchester Crown Court after being found guilty following a trial earlier this month.

After sentencing, Judge Patrick Field QC criticised airport security for making a “wholly erroneous and potentially dangerous” conclusion that the bomb was not viable after it was seized by officers.

The court heard Muhammad, of Bury, had been planning to board a Ryanair flight to Italy on January 30 when security officers uncovered the device, made of masking tape, batteries, the tube of a marker pen, pins and wires, in the zip lining of his small green suitcase.

Muhammad claimed that he had never seen the device before and it had nothing to do with him. Airport security believed the bomb was not viable and, after being questioned by counter terrorism officers, Muhammad, who was born in Pakistan but had an Italian passport, was released.

Judge Field said he had been “alarmed by some of the evidence in the case.”

He said: “In these dangerous times it seems to me there’s no room for complacency.”

Speaking outside court, Greater Manchester Police Assistant Chief Constable Russ Jackson said: “Both the airport and police have reviewed our security procedure to ensure that operating procedures are followed on every occasion when there’s a suspicious incident.”

He added: “This is without a doubt an extremely serious incident at a time when people are concerned about terrorism, especially here in Manchester, and, while it should be acknowledged that security checks were effective in finding the item, the assessment of the device should have been more comprehensive.”