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Friend 'helped bomb plot accused' Friend 'helped bomb plot accused'
(about 1 hour later)
A friend of the alleged 21 July bombers has told a jury he helped to collect the main ingredient for their bombs, believing it was for decorating.A friend of the alleged 21 July bombers has told a jury he helped to collect the main ingredient for their bombs, believing it was for decorating.
Matthew Dixon told Woolwich Crown Court he drove Manfo Asiedu to a hairdressing wholesalers to pick up bleach.Matthew Dixon told Woolwich Crown Court he drove Manfo Asiedu to a hairdressing wholesalers to pick up bleach.
Mr Asiedu is alleged to have then bought 16 litres of hydrogen peroxide.Mr Asiedu is alleged to have then bought 16 litres of hydrogen peroxide.
Mr Asiedu, Muktar Ibrahim, Hussein Osman, Yassin Omar, Ramzi Mohammed and Adel Yahya deny conspiracy to murder and conspiracy to cause explosions.Mr Asiedu, Muktar Ibrahim, Hussein Osman, Yassin Omar, Ramzi Mohammed and Adel Yahya deny conspiracy to murder and conspiracy to cause explosions.
Mr Dixon, a product designer, said he was told by Mr Asiedu the bleach was for "stripping walls in listed buildings" because the wallpaper was so thick that a stripper would not work. Mr Dixon, a product designer, was a school friend of Mr Omar and knew several of the alleged plotters, the court heard.
A sales assistant at Hairways in Tottenham, north London, advised the pair the liquid peroxide was volatile, he told the court. Volatile liquid
Among them was 33-year-old Mr Asiedu, who told Mr Dixon he needed bleach for "stripping walls in listed buildings" because the wallpaper was so thick that a stripper would not work.
The pair drove to Hairways wholesalers in Tottenham, north London, on 19 May 2005, the court heard.
A sales assistant advised them that liquid peroxide was volatile, Mr Dixon said.
I did not know if it was going to get the seats dirty Matthew DixonI did not know if it was going to get the seats dirty Matthew Dixon
But Mr Asiedu replied: "No worries, I am a professional, I know what I am doing."But Mr Asiedu replied: "No worries, I am a professional, I know what I am doing."
Earlier the court heard Mr Asiedu bought the hydrogen peroxide, allegedly for use as an explosive charge, on 19 May 2005. Earlier, the court heard that Mr Asiedu bought the hydrogen peroxide allegedly for use as an explosive charge to be used in a plot to bomb London's public transport system.
Mr Dixon told the court he had been reluctant to help with the shopping trip because he was busy with his Masters degree, but Mr Asiedu had been persistent.Mr Dixon told the court he had been reluctant to help with the shopping trip because he was busy with his Masters degree, but Mr Asiedu had been persistent.
"He said I was the only person he knew with a car," he said."He said I was the only person he knew with a car," he said.
Mr Dixon was also worried that the bleach could damage his car, the court heard.Mr Dixon was also worried that the bleach could damage his car, the court heard.
"I did not know the details of what he was carrying - I did not know if it was going to get the seats dirty," he said."I did not know the details of what he was carrying - I did not know if it was going to get the seats dirty," he said.
Painter and decorator
Mr Asiedu bought all the bottles in the shop and put them on the back seat of the car, the court heard.
But Mr Asiedu said this was not enough, so the pair drove to Sally's hairdressers in Finchley where he bought more bottles.
They then carried them to the ninth-floor home of Mr Omar in New Southgate, north London, the jury was told.
Mr Dixon said he had no idea at the time of the potential use of peroxide in explosives.
THE ACCUSED Muktar Said Ibrahim, 28, from Stoke Newington, north LondonRamzi Mohammed, 25, from North Kensington, west LondonYassin Omar, 26, from New Southgate, north LondonHussein Osman, 28, of no fixed addressManfo Kwaku Asiedu, 33, of no fixed addressAdel Yahya, 24, of High Road, Tottenham, north London
"This is months before any attacks in London. I knew he (Mr Asiedu) was a painter and decorator by trade.
"It seemed perfectly feasible that he needed to pick up supplies.
"I had no reason to doubt what they were going to be used for."
He said that, until the failed 21 July attacks, he had dismissed the shopping trip as "meaningless".
"It was only (because of) the events afterwards that it became so important but at the time it was nothing," he told the court.
Mr Dixon also said he had visited north London's Finsbury Park Mosque with Mr Omar and Mr Yahya at the time that radical Islamic cleric Abu Hamza al-Masri was preaching there.
He said it had been his first experience of a mosque and he had found nothing "abnormal or radical" about it.