Man pleads guilty to bomb charge

Manfo Asiedu, 34, of no fixed address, pleaded guilty to the single charge at the Old Bailey.

Four other men were jailed for life in July at Woolwich Crown Court after being convicted of conspiracy to murder.

Asiedu had been due to be retried at Kingston Crown Court next week on a single charge of conspiracy to murder, which he denied. But he entered a plea of guilty at a hearing before trial judge Mr Justice Calvert-Smith.

Muktar Said Ibrahim, Ramzi Mohammed, Yassin Omar and Hussain Osman were told they will all serve a minimum of 40 years in prison when they were convicted in July.

Asiedu was supposed to be the fifth bomber but he "lost his nerve at the last moment", Woolwich Crown Court heard during the trial. Instead, he dumped his bomb in a wooded area in Little Wormwood Scrubs, where it was found two days later.

Mr Justice Calvert-Smith said Asiedu will be sentenced at Kingston Crown Court on November 19.

Earlier this week Adel Yahya, 25, of Tottenham, north London, was also jailed for his role in the failed attacks. He was sentenced to six years and nine months imprisonment after admitting collecting information likely to be useful to terrorists.

The attacks on July 21 2005 took place on three Underground trains at Shepherd's Bush station, Oval station, Warren Street station and a bus in Hackney Road. The home-made bombs failed to go off only because of mistakes calculating the ratios of the deadly ingredients. Two weeks earlier, a similar, but unconnected, plot killed 52 people on London's transport network.

Ghanaian-born Asiedu, also known as Sumaila Abu Bakari, faces a maximum life sentence for the charge. He admits that he purchased all of the hydrogen peroxide used in the attempted bombings, but says he refused to take part in the attacks.