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Bomb mix 'began burning in lab' Bomb material 'as strong as TNT'
(about 3 hours later)
A sample of explosive charge from the rucksack bomb of one of the alleged 21 July plotters burnt through forensic packaging days later, a jury has heard. The explosive used by the alleged 21 July bombers was as powerful as TNT or gelignite, a jury has been told.
Explosive experts took samples of the hydrogen peroxide and chapatti flour mixture from the Tube which Ramzi Mohammed allegedly tried to blow up. Forensics expert Claire McGavigan said that had one of the devices exploded, lethal shrapnel would have travelled at "hundreds of metres a second".
But it began smoking and burnt through packaging, Woolwich Crown Court heard. People could have died, been seriously injured or lost limbs, she told Woolwich Crown Court.
Mr Mohammed and five others deny conspiracy to murder and conspiracy to cause explosions in 2005. Six men deny conspiracy to murder and conspiracy to cause explosions on London's transport network in 2005.
The other men on trial are Manfo Asiedu, Muktar Ibrahim, Hussein Osman, Yassin Omar, and Adel Yahya. They are Manfo Asiedu, Muktar Ibrahim, Hussein Osman, Yassin Omar, Ramzi Mohammed and Adel Yahya.
'As powerful as TNT' The jury has heard how none of the four bombs set off in three Tube trains and a bus exploded properly.
Claire McGavigan, a senior case officer at the Forensics Explosives Laboratory in Kent, said that the moment she went into the building where the samples were being stored on 26 July 2005 she could smell burning. 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
The pale yellow gel-like mixture was being stored in special anti-static bags, placed in water and then in plastic boxes in a separate building to the main laboratory, the court heard. Mr Mohammed is alleged to have tried to detonate a rucksack bomb on a Northern Line train between Stockwell and Oval.
"I instantly noticed a burning smell," she said. Ms McGavigan, a senior case officer at the Forensics Explosives Laboratory in Kent, tested samples from his bag.
It burnt through three layers of packaging and left a hole Claire McGavigan She said: "Any fragment travelling at that speed and possibly very hot is very dangerous and can obviously embed itself in a person and cause serious injury.
"I noticed that one of the exhibits had quite a lot of condensation on the inside of the packaging and there was smoke circulating around the inside of the bag." "There would be serious damage to the train itself, there would be serious injuries, quite possibly death to people in the area at the time."
She told the jury that she and the principal forensic investigator then hosed down the outside of the bag. She also told the court that she thought the home-made device had not gone off because of a problem with the detonator.
"Some of the material had burnt and was black and charred. It burnt through three layers of packaging and left a hole," Ms McGavigan said. "It appears that the most likely reason was that the initiator containing the TATP [triacetone triperoxide - an explosive sometimes used in detonators] wasn't actually powerful enough to set off the main charge in this particular case," she said.
An explosives officer with the Metropolitan Police, Ian Jones, said tests on the alleged bomb left by Mr Mohammed at Oval station showed it did contain peroxide and had tacks embedded in it. Smoking and burning
Mr Jones also helped in recovering the device allegedly abandoned in Little Wormwood Scrubs by Mr Asiedu. The explosive was placed in a plastic container with shrapnel such as nails and screws taped to the outside, the court heard.
The court has also heard that the explosive charge was as powerful as TNT or Gelignite and could have caused death or serious injury. Earlier the jury was told that a sample of the explosive charge from Mr Mohammed's rucksack started to smoke and burn through layers of forensic packaging five days after the attempted attacks.
Ms McGavigan said she had smelt burning the moment she went into a separate building to the main laboratory on 26 July 2005, where the sample was kept.
The pale yellow gel-like mixture was being stored in special anti-static bags, placed in water and then in plastic boxes, the court heard.
She told the jury that she and the principal forensic investigator had hosed down the outside of the bag.
"Some of the material had burnt and was black and charred. It burnt through three layers of packaging and left a hole," she said.