(Manchester) 43 year old Nadeem Muhammad has been found guilty of possessing explosives with
intent to endanger life or property after a pipe bomb was found in his hand
luggage at Manchester airport.
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| Nadeem Muhammad |
The court had heard he was planning to board a Ryanair
flight to Italy on 30 January when security officers found the device. Muhammad was questioned by officers from
the counter-terrorism unit but released. He returned to the airport the next
day to collect his mobile phone, which had been taken by police, then again on
5 February when he boarded another flight to Italy. Suspicions were raised on the 8th February when the device was examined by forensics officers and the bomb squad
was called. The explosive was then sent for examination where it was found to be a “crude but potentially viable improvised explosive
device”. It contained double-base smokeless propellant, normally found
in firearms ammunition, which was made up of nitroglycerin and nitrocellulose. Italian
police raided Muhammad’s home and workplace on 9 February and took him to a
police station. But he was released after a couple of hours and on 12 February
boarded another flight back to the UK. He was arrested when he arrived back at
Manchester airport.
The jury reached a majority verdict of 10 to two on the
charge after almost 16 hours of deliberations. Muhammad, cried in the dock at Manchester
crown court after the jury returned its verdict today.
After the verdict, Supt Graeme Openshaw of Greater
Manchester police’s specialist operations unit said security procedures at the
airport had been tightened up. “We accept that there were some errors with our
assessment of the device on the day and we have already reviewed our practices.
