An Iraqi-born bomber originally entered the UK on a temporary visa to go to a taping of a reality television show but remained in the country for seven years as the government failed to deport him before he attempted to launch an attack against a hospital.
A two-year investigation into the November 2021 bombing at the Liverpool Women’s Hospital by Emad Al Swealmeen, 32, has found that while he had a history of mental illness, the attack was likely motivated by Britain rejecting his claims for asylum.
According to initial findings from Operation Itonia, Al Swealmeen originally came to the United Kingdom on a Jordanian passport with a six-month visitor visa to allegedly attend the filming of the Britain’s Got Talent television programme in Belfast. However, just days later, the would-be bomber falsely told authorities that he fled from Syria in an attempt to gain asylum status in the country.
His asylum requests were rejected the following year, and by rights, should have been deported. Yet, he launched a series of appeals and dubiously converted to Christianity from Islam in 2017 and legally changed his name to Enzo Almeni. His appeals were rejected, but the government failed to deport him before he died during the 2021 bombing.
The police investigation cast doubt on his conversion to Christianity — which was heavily reported on in the legacy media in the wake of the bombing — with investigators saying that “the authenticity of this conversion is in doubt” and that a copy of the Qu’ran and a prayer mat were found in one of his flats after the attack. Yet, police claimed to have found no other evidence of extremism and said that they believed the attack was inspired by anger over having his asylum requests rejected in combination with poor mental health.
“The intended target of the attack is still unclear. However, there is no information to suggest that Al Swealmeen planned to detonate his device anywhere other than the Liverpool Women’s Hospital,” the report added.
Fortunately, the homemade bomb Al Swealmeen was “unstable” and “exploded earlier than planned” in a taxi before he could reach his intended target at the hospital. He was therefore the only casualty of the attack, with his taxi driver, David Perry, making a lucky escape from the vehicle as the bomb went off. Police said the bomb was constructed with “several hundred ball bearings as shrapnel,” indicating that the terrorist likely had the “intention to inflict multiple casualties”.
After the attack, counter-terrorism officers found “two unfinished improvised firearms, 11 magazine clips in 9 mm and .45 calibre, over 90 9mm and .45 calibre dummy cartridges, a cartridge loading device and an improvised silencer” in his Sutcliffe Street address Liverpool. They also found a bag containing implements “used in the manufacture of improvised firearms”.
Al Swealmeen also rented another flat in the city — which he paid for in cash — where police found “mixing bowls containing residues, Ziploc bags containing powder, grinding tools, scales, electrical equipment, filter papers and a variety of other components were found lying on the floor on open display”.
The police said that it was likely he had rented the second flat in order to “build his explosive device without fear of detection by the authorities,” noting that he did not have any mail sent to the address with his name on it and did not pay for utilities under his name.
Superintendent Andy Meeks said: “The events of Nov 14 2021 shocked the country and left many people living with lasting trauma including the taxi driver who escaped with his life, people present in the hospital and all who witnessed and were affected by this attack in Merseyside.
“This was an incredibly complex case involving a lone suspect who took considerable steps to cover his tracks and I understand the concerns this will raise around the detection of such offenders.”
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