Muslim convert admits failed attack

Nicky Reilly, 22, pleaded guilty at the Old Bailey to attempted murder and preparing a terrorist attack at the Giraffe restaurant in Exeter. Police said he was encouraged and helped by at least two untraced Islamic extremists who contacted him via his YouTube webpage.

But the attack failed when child-like Reilly could not open the door of a restaurant toilet cubicle in the seconds after he set the bomb to explode. The court heard he intended to run out into the packed dining area clutching the caustic soda bottle bomb to his stomach.

But the delay caused the volatile nail-filled device to detonate in his hands, leaving him badly injured. Reilly, of King Street, Plymouth, converted to Islam about five years ago and appeared in court under the name Mohammad Rashid Saeed Alim. Police said Reilly began to plan the attack earlier this year as his interest in Islam became an obsession.

His mother Kim watched from the court's public gallery as Reilly appeared via video link from high security Belmarsh Prison in London. She told the BBC he was "brainwashed" by others who were left to walk free after he did their work.

Officers said he also used the internet to research how to make bombs using caustic soda, kerosene and nails. Police recovered pictures of the bombs taken by Reilly before he packed them in a rucksack and travelled by bus to Exeter. One senior investigator said he worshipped Osama bin Laden and quoted the al Qaida leader in a suicide note left at his home.

Explaining the prosecution case, Mr Justice Calvert-Smith said Reilly decided to target "ordinary citizens". He said: "He bought more than necessary equipment over those months to construct two types of improvised devices, one using caustic soda and the other kerosene. He appears to have tried to increase the potential for injury and death both to himself and others by putting chemicals in glass bottles and filling those bottles with a total of around 500 nails."

When Reilly arrived at the Giraffe restaurant at lunchtime on May 22 there were 24 customers and 11 members of staff inside. He was captured on CCTV as he purchased a drink and sat at a bar before entering the toilet at the back of the store. Footage from the restaurant shows customers fleeing in terror after three loud bangs were heard.

Prosecutor Stuart Baker said: "His recollection now is that he was unable to open the lock of the cubicle door and come out, by which time the first device had already exploded." Assistant Chief Constable Debbie Simpson said inquiries to trace his extremist contacts continued and declined to comment on rumours they may be in Pakistan.

Ms Simpson said: "There is no doubt that his intention was to kill and seriously injure many innocent members of the public in the Giraffe restaurant in Exeter. This was a criminal act, calculated to cause harm and spread panic. The two improvised explosive devices found in his rucksack contained a combination of explosive chemicals and nails with which he intended to kill many people. The incident in Exeter shows that terrorism remains a real and serious threat to all communities across the UK, and not just our major cities." Reilly will be sentenced at the Old Bailey on Friday November 21.