Manchester Airport pipe bomb: Nadeem Muhammad guilty of plot to endanger life after explosive found in hand luggage
Jury disregards man’s claim he had never seen device before
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Your support makes all the difference.A man has been found guilty of possession of explosives with intent to endanger life or property after a pipe bomb was found in his hand luggage at Manchester Airport.
Nadeem Muhammad, 43, sobbed in the dock at Manchester Crown Court after the jury returned its verdict on Tuesday.
The court had heard he was planning to board a Ryanair flight to Italy on 30 January 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 in court that he had never seen the device before and that it had nothing to do with him.
Security terminal manager Deborah Jeffrey told his trial she was called over by an officer at the security area of Terminal 3.
She said she was told the item had been swabbed and no trace of explosives had been found so she put it into the pocket of her jacket.
Ms Jeffrey, who has worked at the airport for 19 years, said she later put it through an X-ray machine but could not see a detonator.
Muhammad was questioned by counterterrorism police but not arrested.
He returned to the airport on 5 February and flew to Italy.
The device was later passed to counterterrorism police and, when examined by experts on 8 February, found to be a “potentially viable” bomb containing nitroglycerin and nitrocellulose.
Muhammad, who was born in Pakistan but had an Italian passport, was arrested when he returned to the UK on 12 February.
Sue Hemming, from the Crown Prosecution Service, said: “Despite extensive investigation, Nadeem Muhammad’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.”
Muhammad will be sentenced on 23 August.
PA
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