The 18-year-old charged with attempted murder over the September 15th London underground terror attack is accused of buying bomb parts online.
The Iraqi asylum seeker, who media reports entered the country illegally in 2015, was charged with attempted murder at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Friday and was also charged with using the chemical compound TATP to cause an explosion likely to endanger life, reports The Telegraph.
The charges are both of a criminal nature, and are not brought from counter-terrorism acts on the UK’s statute books.
Prosecutor Lee Ingham alleged Hassan, who was living with foster carers in Sunbury-on-Thames, bought some of the “key ingredients” from online retailer Amazon.
The device, which failed to fully detonate but resulted in the injuries of nearly 30 people, contained a homemade explosive (acetone peroxide made with TATP), referred to as ‘Mother of Satan‘, an electronic timer, and metal shrapnel comprising of “knives, screws and similar items clearly designed to cause severe injuries and death to those nearby”, according to the prosecutor.
“The device did not function as intended. It did not function the TATP, probably due to inaccurate construction,” Mr. Ingham added.
The court heard that after searching the foster carers’ property, in the kitchen of which it is alleged Hassan built the bomb, more explosives were hidden down the back of a sofa.
The migrant spoke only to confirm his personal details, giving his full name as Ahmed Hassan Mohammad Ali.
Hassan was arrested at the port of Dover, Kent, at 7:50 am last Saturday. In total, six people were arrested in connection with the terror attack.
On Thursday, London police released 21-year-old ‘Man B’, identified in some media reports as Syrian origin Yahyah Farouk, who was arrested in Hounslow, London.
On the same day, police confirmed they released a 48-year-old arrested in Newport, South Wales.
Scotland Yard confirmed that a 17-year-old male arrested shortly after midnight on Thursday, who is living in a “halfway house” in Thornton Heath, South London, for asylum seekers and “troubled” teenagers, was released on Friday from police custody.
All three were released with no further action taken. Two other men from Newport, Wales, aged 25 and 30 and believed to be asylum seekers, are still being questioned.
Hassan will appear next at the Old Bailey on October 13th.
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