Nail bomb suspect released from hospital as police raid home of Kurdish men 'linked' to plot

The Muslim convert suspected of detonating a nail bomb in a restaurant is being held in police custody after his release from hospital today.

As officers investigating the attempted attack in Exeter searched a house near the home suspect Nicky Reilly, detectives prepared to question the 22-year-old.

He suffered eye and facial injuries when the device partially went off in the Giraffe restaurant at lunchtime on Thursday.

Two other devices were found nearby said the police.

Reilly had been under police guard in hospital.

He can now be formally questioned about the Exeter blast.

Reilly, arrested under the Terrorism Act, can be held for 28 days. 

In connection with the nail bomb attack, police raided a three-bedroom, three-storey property which neighbours say is council-owned and rented to a group of Iraqi Kurds.  

Plain-clothed and uniformed police arrived at the house on Sunday afternoon and spent the night and this morning conducting a finger-tip search.  

It has emerged Reilly was set up with an internet girlfriend by his Kurdish friends and said he would do anything for her.

Police chiefs say that 6ft 3in Reilly, known locally as a 'big friendly giant', was 'preyed upon, radicalised and taken advantage of' by a terrorist cell in the West Country.

Minutes before the blast on Thursday it is believed Reilly received a text message of encouragement from a terrorist handler.

Now detectives are investigating any role the girlfriend may have played in the failed attack.

The bomb set off in the  restaurant would have released a giant fireball had it ignited fully.

Bloody: Nicky Reilly pictured after the blast at Exeter

The device was made from sodium hydroxide and paraffin and packed with nails and was designed to detonate when it was shaken, sources told The Press Association.

A family friend, who lives in the same block of flats as Reilly in Plymouth, said: 'Nicky told us his Kurdish friends had fixed him up with a Muslim girlfriend on the internet.

'He used to brag about her and tell us "I'd do anything for her" and said he loved her. But I never saw her  -  as far as I know they had only chatted over the internet.'

While growing up, Reilly was tormented by other teenagers on the estate who used to call him Queenie, suggesting he was gay.

But a friend who knew him through his school days said it was a previous failed love affair with a blonde teenager when Reilly was 17 that sent him over the edge.

Reilly slashed his wrists in a suicide attempt  -  and soon after converted to Islam.

The friend added that Reilly, who is said to have a history of mental illness, was mainly peaceful, but if he failed to take his medication he could suffer from bouts of rage, with his mother Kim on the receiving end.

Police are questioning two men detained by armed officers at the Bagatelle cafe in Plymouth on Friday.

Stephen Otter, Chief Constable of Devon and Cornwall, briefed community leaders on the investigation at the weekend and warned the public not to make 'assumptions' based on religion, ethnic origin or appearance.

He quoted the trustees of the Islamic Centre for the South West in Exeter that 'it is our humanity that must bring us together to condemn, oppose, and overcome those who would spread fear and hatred.'

Locals believe Reilly was converted to Islam through his contact with a group of Muslims who would meet around a row of shops near his home in the Stonehouse area of Plymouth.

Tony Bamforth, 44, the father of Reilly's younger brother Luke, currently in jail, said he believed they had spent five years brainwashing him to carry out the suicide bid. He added: 'He wouldn't do it himself not the lad I knew. He's a big friendly giant.'