A MAN from Greater Manchester has been found guilty of trying to board a Ryanair flight with a pipe bomb to carry out a suicide attack.
Nadeem Muhammad, 43, attempted to board a flight to Italy with a viable pipe bomb in his hand luggage on January 30 this year.
The bomb, built inside a sealed marker pen barrel, was designed to be activated manually – meaning it could not have been detonated remotely or automatically.
The prosecution argued that the only reason for Muhammed to take the device through airport security was to detonate it in the confined space of the plane, endangering the lives of passengers while causing serious damage to the aircraft.
Manchester Crown Court heard that security staff had initially believed the bomb was not viable, and Muhammed was released after being questioned by counter terrorism officers.
He was able to board a flight to Bergamo in Italy five days later – but subsequent forensic examination of the device found that the bomb could have been viable.
Muhammad, who was born in Pakistan but had an Italian passport, was arrested again at the first opportunity on February 12.
Superintendent Graeme Openshaw of Greater Manchester Police’s Specialist Operations unit said: “Based on the overall circumstances of his stop and the information presented at the time, police officers determined that there was not sufficient evidence or suspicion to arrest the man and place restrictions on his movement.
“Following subsequent forensic examination of the device carried out by police, it was determined that it could be viable and the man was arrested at the first opportunity.
“We accept that there were some errors with our assessment of the device on the day.
“We have already reviewed our practices, however this incident has demonstrated the effectiveness of the airport security checks where the item was successfully detected and the passenger intercepted.”
When questioned, Mr Muhammad initially claimed that one of his five children - the oldest of whom is 11 years old - may have put the pipe bomb in his luggage.
During the trial he said he was not aware of the device and that it must have been placed in his bag by an unknown third party.
But the jury rejected Muhammad’s argument and convicted him of possession of explosives with intent to endanger life or property, contrary to section 3 of the Explosive Substances Act 1883.
He will be sentenced on Wednesday, August 23 at Manchester Crown Court.
Sue Hemming from the CPS said: "Despite extensive investigation, Nadeem Muhammed's motive for attempting to take this device onto a plane remains unknown.
“However it is clear that the consequences, had he been successful, could have been disastrous.”
She added: "The CPS put a strong case to the jury resulting in him being found guilty today. He will now be held accountable for his actions."
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