Mohammed Rehman trial: Video ‘shows would-be British bomber testing out explosives in his back garden’
|
Version 0 of 1. A court has been shown a video of the moment a would-be suicide bomber allegedly tested out explosives in his back garden ahead of a terror attack in London. Mohammed Rehman was on trial at the Old Bailey accused of planning to bomb either the London Underground or the Westfield shopping centre on the 10th anniversary of the 7/7 attacks. Jurors heard how the 25-year-old filmed himself trying out a home-made bomb which he could then “up-scale” to cause mass fatalities. The prosecution said he carried out at least two tests and sent the footage to his secret wife, Sana Ahmed Khan, who is jointly charged with him. The prosecution has said Rehman was "intent on martyrdom" when he tweeted: "Now I just make explosives in preparation for kuffar lol and when I've made the required amount I'll be wearing them on my chest." Counter-terrorism officers were alerted after Rehman, under the name Silent Bomber, asked Twitter followers for advice on which of the two targets to choose - London Underground or Westfield shopping centre, jurors were told. Before police swooped on his Reading home, he allegedly said he had rigged up a bomb which could be triggered at the touch of a button at his bedside, saying: "Nobody gets in the way of my Jihad." What officers actually found were a "Jihadi John-style" hunting knife commonly used in extremist imagery and dangerous chemicals for a massive bomb which was just days away from being completed, jurors were told. Rehman and Khan, 24, deny preparing terrorist acts on or before 28 May this year. Rehman has also pleaded not guilty to a charge of possessing an article for terrorist purposes. The trial continues. |