Bomb hoax suspect was 'extremist'

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A 22-year-old man accused of leaving a fake bomb on a bus had a close interest in "radical and extremist Islamic violence", a court has been told.

Nicholas Roddis allegedly left the "device", which included wires and a clock, on a bus in Rotherham after boarding the vehicle in disguise.

The court heard that police found items such as railway detonators and articles on bomb-making at Mr Roddis's lodgings.

Mr Roddis, of Rotherham, denies various terrorism-related charges.

Prosecuting at Leeds Crown Court, Edward Brown QC described how a heavily disguised man got on the Maltby to Rotherham bus service at Bramley at 2145 BST on 8 May last year.

After passengers noticed that the man left a bag on the bus, the vehicle and neighbouring houses were evacuated and an army bomb disposal team blew up the package before the soldiers found it was a fake.

The prosecutor said a note was found with the hoax bomb which called for, in badly written Arabic, Britain to be "punished" and was signed by "the al-Qaeda organisation in Iraq".

Beheading clips

Mr Brown added that police searching Mr Roddis's lodgings found acetone, hydrogen peroxide, a quantity of nails and a false beard.

He told the jury: "He [Mr Roddis] had developed a close interest in what amounts to radical and extremist Islamic activities and radical and extremist Islamic violence."

The court heard Mr Roddis got a job at the Sheffield firm Loans Assured where he disturbed Muslim colleagues by showing them video clips, including beheadings.

Mr Brown said the defendant downloaded documents from the internet about bomb-making and had a collection of extremist material.

He said: "He appears to have derived something of excitement from that type of material."

Mr Roddis denies one charge of placing a hoax bomb on a bus, one of engaging in the preparation of acts of terrorism, six counts of possessing an article for terrorism purposes and three of collecting information useful for terrorist purposes.

The case was adjourned until Wednesday.