A man who talked down another man who took a pressure cooker bomb to a Leeds hospital today (March 25) received a prestigious award for bravery.

Leeds man Nathan Newby spent hours talking to Mohammad Farooq outside St James's Hospital on January 20, 2023 - the exact spot Farooq planned to bomb.

Farooq was last year sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum of 37 years after being convicted of a catalogue of offences, including planning an attack on RAF Menwith Hill.

During a trial at Sheffield Crown Court, the prosecution said Farooq’s “Plan A” was to target the RAF and radar base. When that didn’t come off, he turned his attention to the hospital in Leeds where he was said to harbour a grudge against nursing colleagues.

Farooq was arrested outside the maternity ward of the hospital in the early hours after telling Mr Newby, who national media reports say was a patient at the hospital, he “felt like killing everyone”.

Mr Newby, who received the George Medal for bravery for preventing the potential terrorist attack, persuaded Farooq to abandon his plan and move away from the hospital, and managed to keep him calm until police arrived.

Media reports say Mr Newby approached Farooq, a former student nurse at the hospital, at the time as he believed he could be struggling mentally.

Farooq told Mr Newby he had a pressure cooker bomb on him yet, despite few other people being in the area, Mr Newby continued to engage with him. 

Mr Newby spoke to Farooq about his problems to try and appease him, reports say, and after some time, Farooq asked Mr Newby for a hug. 

“Yes, have a hug, mate”, Mr Newby replied.  

Media reports quote Mr Newby as saying:

Mr Newby covertly filmed a conversation between him and Farooq, during which he asks Farooq what his intentions were that night.

"To let it [bomb] off inside. [I] would have just done it in the kitchen", Farooq responds. 

When Mr Newby asked Farooq why he "thought that was ok to do", the assailant said he "didn't know" but he'd "just had enough".

Pistol, knife and explosive mixture

As Mr Newby was on the phone to the police operator, Farooq produced a gun. Mr Newby told Farooq to put it down before telling the operator he “has just pulled out a gun”.

Armed police arrived shortly after and arrested Farooq.

He was found to have a pressure cooker bomb with wired attached in his bag, as well as a knife, nails, five plastic tubs of a “low-explosive mixture” and a floorplan of four hospital wards in his car.

Bomb disposal experts were called to the hospital, Crown Prosecution Service last year said, adding they confirmed the homemade bomb was a “viable device”.

A Gediz 9mm P.A.K. semi-automatic pistol, which was found to be an imitation, was also discovered nearby.

Police body-worn footage of the arrest shows Farooq telling officers Mr Newby “talked him down” from his plan to bomb the hospital. 

Ahead of receiving the George Medal today, detective superintendent Paul Greenwood – head of investigations at Counter Terrorism Policing North East – said Mr Newby’s intervention “prevented a potentially devastating attack on the hospital”.

He added:

Mr Newby was today awarded the medal by the King during a ceremony at St James’s Palace. 

The George Medal is awarded to recognise of acts of exceptional bravery. 

RAF Menwith Hill plot

Following Farooq’s arrest, police seized his electronic devices which revealed his interest in radical Islam and Jihad ideology, as well as further details on how the explosive device was manufactured and his plan to attack Menwith Hill.

He searched the RAF base on the outskirts of Harrogate and location data extracted from his phone revealed Farooq was in the vicinity of the base on two separate occasions

The Crown Prosecution Service also said Farooq, of Leeds, denied his actions were a “reconnaissance of the military site” and “for any terrorist purposes”, but prosecutors were able to prove his interest went beyond internet research and he was indeed planning an attack on the RAF base.