An 18-year-old man who planted a home-made bomb on a London
tube, intending to kill those on board, was yesterday, March 16, found
guilty of attempted murder following a trial at the Old Bailey.
Ahmed Hassan of Sunbury, Surrey will be sentenced next
week. Sentencing will be considered by the judge in line with section 30
of the Terrorism Act 2008.
Temporary Deputy Assistant Commissioner Dean Haydon, said:
"Hassan was extremely devious and cunning in the way he
went about carrying out this attack. He built a home-made bomb packed
full of shrapnel that was designed to kill, maim and injure as many
people as he could. It was only through good fortune that it didn't
fully detonate and had it done so, I have little doubt that we would
have been dealing with many fatalities.
"The response of all the emergency services to this
incident was tremendous - from the first responders at the scene,
through to the detectives and officers involved in the investigation,
his arrest. The case against him was so compelling that the jury were
left in no doubt of his intent to kill, despite his claims to the
contrary.
"The speed at which the Counter Terrorism Command
investigation team worked was outstanding and had it not been for the
fantastic support given by colleagues British Transport Police,
Transport for London, Kent, Surrey and Port of Dover Police, then this
result may not have been possible.
"I also hope that today's outcome will help those who were
injured and on the tube that day to start to put this terrible ordeal
behind them."
At 08:19hrs, on Friday 15 September 2017 an improvised
explosive device (IED) partially detonated on an eastbound District Line
Tube at Parsons Green Station. As local officers and emergency services
responded to the incident at the scene, an investigation was launched
by the Met's Counter Terrorism Command (CTC).
Detectives from the CTC made fast-time CCTV enquiries from
the tube and corresponding stations to identify who boarded the train
with the IED.
Within a few hours, they identified that the suspect
boarded the tube at Wimbledon Station and further CCTV gathered from the
station meant that officers were able to obtain a clear image of the
suspect's face, which was then circulated to all police forces across
the UK.
It was this image that allowed a police officer at the Port
of Dover to spot and arrest Hassan after he arrived there at around
07:00hrs, the day after the attack - less than 24 hours after the device
had exploded.
Once he was in custody, officers pieced together Hassan's
actions and movements, both in the weeks prior to the attack, in
ordering and collecting the various components required to make the IED
and also on the day of the attack, charting his journey as he left his
home through to leaving the bomb on the tube and his subsequent journey
to Dover.
Through their enquiries, officers found that Hassan went to
great lengths to try and avoid detection and evade capture. He changed
his outfit several times on-route to Dover, discarded his mobile phone
and memory card and was only using cash. Despite all this, officers were
still able to piece together the evidence that showed how Hassan
firstly put together the various components for the IED, and then
carried out the attack.
Expert analysis of the device showed that it had been
constructed with the intention to fully detonate, but for some reason -
possibly due to it being disturbed as he carried it on his journey that
morning - it only partially detonated.
Twenty-three people were injured as a direct result of the
explosion, suffering serious burn injuries, and a further 28 people were
injured in the resulting stampede as passengers exited the tube and
station in panic.
Hassan was arrested at the Port of Dover on Saturday 16 September, 2017 and was charged six days later with the above offence.
Metropolitan Police UK
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