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Last-minute fault with bomb saved West End from carnage
Paul Cheston, Courts Correspondent11 Apr 2008
The full details of how hundreds of clubbers escaped death in the West End last summer were revealed at the Old Bailey today.
Two car bombs packed with explosives and gas cylinders failed to go off only because of a technical failing.
One was positioned outside the Tiger Tiger club filled with 556 clubbers and dozens of staff and a second farther down Haymarket. The court heard how bombers tried to trigger the devices with their mobile phones but the fume-filled cars failed to ignite.
Today, Sabeel Ahmed, 26, an Indianborn doctor of Liverpool, pleaded guilty to failing to disclose information relating to an act of terrorism. Hewas sentenced to 18 months imprisonment but, because of time served since his arrest, he will be released for immediate voluntary repatriation to India.
Sabeel's brother Kafeel, who had a doctorate in engineering, had planted the bombs and also led an attempted car bombing at Glasgow Airport the day after the Haymarket attack.
Kafeel died of his injuries after he drove his car bomb into the airport terminal building. Once again a technical fault prevented a huge loss of life.
Two other doctors, Mohammed Asha and Bilal Abdulla, are alleged to have been responsible for all three car bombs and will stand trial in October.
Jonathan Laidlaw QC, prosecuting, told the court today that Kafeel and others had planned bomb attacks across Britain, at "clubs and places of entertainment where the devastating effect and loss of life would be the greatest".
The bombers used two Mercedes bought in Warrington and Sheffield and constructed the homemade devices in a bomb factory in Paisley, Scotland.
This involved a combination of fuel, gas bottles, electronic equipment and circuitboards fitted to a timer operated by mobile phone. The cars were driven south, arriving in central London in the early hours of 29 June.
The green Mercedes was parked close to Tiger Tiger but was spotted after staff had called an ambulance for an unrelated incident at about 1.40am.
"The lights were on but nobody was with the vehicle," said Mr Laidlaw. "A club door supervisor and the general manager approached the Mercedes and looked into the front nearside window. Gas vapour appeared to be venting and billowing up inside.
"The ambulance staff looked into the vehicle and with considerable presence of mind the manager arranged... to contact the police and begin the process of clearing the street and area around the club. Arrangements were made to evacuate the club by the rear emergency door and complete evacuation was achieved in 10 minutes."
The bomb squad was called and the device was disarmed.
At 3.15am a traffic warden ticketed a blue Mercedes outside Canada House at the Trafalgar Square end of Haymarket where it had been parked for at least an hour. The vehicle was taken to the NCP pound in Park Lane.
A "strong and strange" smell of chemicals was emanating from it and police were called. Examination of the bomb showed it had undergone "a small explosive event" but the main explosive charge had not detonated. Mr Laidlaw said: "The failure of the vapour to ignite in each vehicle, despite the activation of at least one device, was probably due to the fuel/air ratio exceeding ignition levels. Phone records show that there had been a number of attempts by the two men to activate the devices."
The bombers met up in Edgware Road and stayed the night in London before returning by coach to Glasgow. The next day they took a Cherokee jeep packed with another bomb and drove it at speed into the airport terminal building. Although the bomb did not explode, a fire broke out which was to kill Kafeel. The court heard that after the Glasgow attack Sabeel Ahmed found messages left by his brother. They revealed he intended to kill himself but ordered Sabeel to keep quiet.
As a result Sabeel knew the identity of the bombers, their addresses and more vital information which he should have passed to the authorities. He also had his brother's laptop but kept silent. After his arrest, he continued to withhold the information, said Mr Laidlaw. Mr Justice Calvert-Smith today said the maximum sentence he could impose was five years but stressed that Ahmed had no idea his brother was involved in terrorism until after the airport attack. There was no evidence the defendant was an Islamic extremist, he said. Sabeel was originally from Bangalore where he went to university and qualified as a doctor. He came to Britain in April 2005 and was granted a visa to continue his medical studies.
At first he lived with his brother in Cambridge and later worked at hospitals in and around Liverpool.
