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21
Mar
Man who planned terrorist attack on RAF Menwith Hill given life sentence
A man who took a pressure cooker bomb to a hospital and planned a terrorist attack on RAF Menwith Hill was today jailed for life.
Mohammad Farooq, from Leeds, was today sentenced at Sheffield Crown Court after being found guilty of preparing acts of terrorism on July 2 last year.
Farooq also previously pleaded guilty to possession of an explosive substance with intent to endanger life; possession of an explosive substance in suspicious circumstances; possession of information likely to be useful to a terrorist; possession of an imitation firearm with intent to commit an indictable offence, and possession of an imitation firearm with intent to cause fear of violence.
Farooq was arrested outside the maternity ward of St James’s Hospital in Leeds on January 20, 2023.
The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) today said the 29-year-old showed a member of the public a gun and said: “I feel like killing everyone”.
When police arrived, Farooq – a former student nurse at the hospital – told officers he had a bomb in his possession.
Officers searched his bag and found a pressure cooker bomb with wires attached.
Bomb disposal experts were called to the hospital, CPS 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.
Mohammad Farooq in the hospital reception.
Farooq’s car was recovered at the hospital. Inside, police found nails, a knife, five plastic tubs of a “low explosive mixture” and a floorplan of four hospital wards.
The CPS today said electronic devices seized after Farooq’s arrest revealed his interest in the ideology of radical Islam and Jihad, as well as further details on how the explosive device was manufactured and his plan to attack Menwith Hill.
Farooq researched the RAF base on the outskirts of Harrogate and location data extracted from his phone revealed he was in the vicinity of the base on two occasions.
The CPS’s report says Farooq denied his actions were a reconnaissance of the military site and for any terrorist purpose, but prosecutors were able to prove during trial that his interest went beyond online searches, and he was planning to carry out an attack.
Farooq was handed a life sentence today (March 21) with a minimum term of 37 years.
The prosecution followed an investigation by Counter Terrorism Policing North East.
‘His extremist views are a threat to society’
Following today’s sentencing hearing, Bethan David, head of the CPS’s counter terrorism division, said:
Farooq is an extremely dangerous individual who amassed a significant amount of practical and theoretical information that enabled him to produce a viable explosive device.
He then took that homemade explosive device to a hospital where he worked with the intention to cause serious harm. Examination of his electronic devices revealed a hatred towards his colleagues at work and those he considered non-believers.
It is clear from his internet searches that he was also conducting extensive research of RAF Menwith Hill, with a view to launching a potential attack.
The extremist views Farooq holds are a threat to our society, and I am pleased the jury found him guilty of his crimes.
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