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| Connor Ward admits explosives charges after Banff evacuation | Connor Ward admits explosives charges after Banff evacuation |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| A man has admitted explosives charges after an incident which saw people evacuated from their homes in an Aberdeenshire town. | A man has admitted explosives charges after an incident which saw people evacuated from their homes in an Aberdeenshire town. |
| Connor Ward, 20, of Banff, bore a grudge against his father, who had fathered a child by his son's young ex-girlfriend, a court heard. | |
| Ward told police "voices in his head" were telling him to kill his father. | |
| Judge Lord Uist called for background reports, including a formal psychological assessment. | Judge Lord Uist called for background reports, including a formal psychological assessment. |
| The High Court in Edinburgh heard that when police raided Ward's home they found an array of chemicals together with recipes for making explosive devices. | The High Court in Edinburgh heard that when police raided Ward's home they found an array of chemicals together with recipes for making explosive devices. |
| Neighbours had to be moved from their homes while Ward's flat was searched. | |
| Advocate depute Tim Niven-Smith, prosecuting, said Ward had made repeated threats which were not taken seriously. | |
| Eventually his mother found "The Do-it-yourself Gunpowder Cookbook" on a table. | |
| She noted down the names typed on the labels of bottles in the flat and took the note to police. | |
| Mr Niven-Smith continued: "The police at Banff thereafter consulted with specialists and it was established that the chemicals found had the potential to produce an explosive substance if mixed together and ignited." | |
| On 18 May an exclusion zone was set up. | |
| The exclusion zone had "a significant impact" as local residents were evacuated from their homes for a long period, Mr Niven-Smith said. | |
| 'Key ingredients' | |
| At the same time, other officers visited Ward in Aberdeen's Royal Cornhill Hospital, where he was a voluntary patient, and he told them he intended to use a bomb to kill his father. | |
| Mr Niven-Smith said the bomb disposal squad found no trace of "a viable explosive device" but confirmed that the chemicals could be "key ingredients". | |
| They also found ball bearings and nails which could have been used as shrapnel. | |
| Ward admitted a breach of the Criminal Justice and Licensing (Scotland) Act by making threats, and possessing explosive substances in suspicious circumstances. | |
| Sentence was deferred until December. |