The Parsons Green bomber used his foster parents’ Tupperware and a Tesco Clubcard to make an explosive packed with screwdrivers, nails and knives, a court heard.
Iraqi asylum seeker Ahmed Hassan, 18, allegedly used a ‘student of the year’ prize to buy a key ingredient for the device on Amazon and made it in his foster parents’ kitchen in Sunbury, Surrey.
A fireball tore through the carriage of the District Line train at Parsons Green leaving passengers needing hospital treatment for burns to the face, legs and hands and singed hair which fell out in clumps.
Accused Hassan is pictured waiting at the Port of Dover after arriving there by train
The jury at the Old Bailey was shown a picture of Hassan’s bedroom door with the word ‘bored’ scribbled several times in black pen.
Inside there was a container of hydrogen peroxide on the top of the wardrobe and an Arsenal towel over the wardrobe door.
Hassan was arrested in Dover on September 16 last year, 24 hours after the attack, wearing a blue Chelsea top under a red and blue striped jumper.
Sarah Wilson, a senior forensic case officer at the Forensic Explosive Laboratory at Fort Halstead in Kent, said the bomb had the potential to kill.
Ahmed Hassan pictured at 9.41am on board a separate train after he left a bomb on a District line carriage
Other pictures released today by London’s Met Police show the kitchen timer used as an initiator mechanism, in addition to a battery and a halogen bulb
A court heard how Hassan allegedly took the largest Tupperware container, pictured above, from his foster parents’ kitchen to store the 300g of TATP which made up the main charge for the device found in a Lidl bag on the tube
Disturbing images released by the Met Police show the contents of the ‘Mother of Satan’ bomb allegedly prepared by Hassan
In addition to nuts and bolts, the alleged terrorist is accused of placing knives inside the device which would act as shrapnel
Shrapnel would be ‘ejected at high speed which would increase the potential for harm,’ the jury was told
Other items Hassan is said to have piled into the explosive included screwdrivers
The device ‘has the potential to cause damage to property and or serious harm to persons in close proximity which potentially could be lethal,’ the court heard. Pictured: The charred remains of one of the screwdrivers
Ms Wilson said triacetone Triperoxide (TATP) is a primary high explosive which is ‘very unstable and very unpredictable and as such is not produced for any commercial or military use.’
Just a few grams could blow someone’s hands and fingers off, she said, and it was sensitive to impact, friction or heat so that it could be set off by hitting or dropping it.
The device ‘has the potential to cause damage to property and or serious harm to persons in close proximity which potentially could be lethal,’ Ms Wilson said.
Shrapnel would be ‘ejected at high speed which would increase the potential for harm,’ she added.
The initiator mechanism, using a kitchen timer, battery and a halogen bulb had functioned but the main charge had failed to function fully.
Deserted: A photograph of the smoke-ridden carriage shortly after the device exploded was shown to a jury today as Hassan is on trial for terrorism offences
The bomb did not fully detonate because Hassan had not dried out the bomb-making chemicals before use, an expert said
The scene of devastation was left behind after the device partially detonated on the packed District Line train at Parsons Green tube station
Nevertheless, an ‘energetic event’ had happened, ‘something quite violent’, Ms Wilson said, ‘a deflagration, a rapid burn rather than a detonation.’
But the bomb did not fully detonate because Hassan had not dried out the bomb-making chemicals before use, the expert said.
Ms Wilson revealed that forensic tests had found traces of the explosive at the three-bedroom home in Sunbury, Surrey where Hassan, 18, lived with his foster parents.
Traces of TATP were found in a bowl in the sink, on the hob and in the extractor fan in the kitchen.
The alleged bomber is said to have gone to a Sports Direct store in Ashford where bought a backpack and clothes
‘Bomber nodded and shrugged his head when asked if he had seen explosion on the news’
Ahmed Hassan, 18, was arrested at the Port of Dover at 7.52am the day after the bomb attempt
The teenager accused of the Parsons Green Tube bomb attempt claimed responsibility for the attack, saying ‘I did’ when a detective asked who made the device, a court has heard.
Ahmed Hassan, 18, was arrested at the Port of Dover at 7.52am the day after the bomb attempt.
He was held in an interview room until Metropolitan Police detectives arrived at the scene.
The Old Bailey has heard that when he was initially stopped Hassan claimed to be homeless and was at the ferry terminal to meet a friend.
Police Constable Daniel Carmen told the court: ‘I asked whether he had seen the news of the incident, to which he nodded, shrugged his shoulders, shook his head, and he poked his bottom lip out.’
Jurors were told that when counter-terrorism officer James Charalambous arrived at the scene in Kent, his first job was to establish an ongoing threat.
Giving evidence on Friday, he said his initial questions were focused on finding out whether there was anything in circulation that might be a risk to others.
He read notes from his interview with Hassan at the time:
Q: ‘Who made the bomb?’
A: ‘I did’
Q: ‘Are there any other devices?’
A: ‘There may be a few milligrams traces at my home address’
Q: ‘Is anyone else involved?’
A: ‘No’
Q: ‘Are you sure?’
A: ‘Yes’
The court has heard that over the next four days Hassan was interviewed seven times, and answered no comment.
However, on one occasion he read a prepared statement which said no one else was involved in the attack.
Hassan, of Sunbury in Surrey, denies attempted murder and using the chemical compound TATP to cause an explosion that was likely to endanger life on September 15 last year.
‘There were 60 nano grams in a bowl in the kitchen sink and in a green bag inside a bin liner, in the hob and the extractor fan in the kitchen,’ the scientist said.
There were also traces of the white crystalline substance in a Tesco carrier bag inside a bin liner in the conservatory and a Tesco Club card in the name Mr A Hassan
A blue vase similar to one used in the bomb detonator was found on the ground outside the conservatory.
There were a number of clear plastic Tupperware containers with blue lids which appeared to be part of a set, on top of the dishwasher in the kitchen.
The suspected bomber, wearing a burgundy-coloured top and beanie, pictured in Dover after travelling from London by train
CCTV cameras caught the moment the Hassan was arrested at the Port of Dover
The suspected bomber was captured as he was placed in the back of a waiting police van
The largest one was missing and appeared to have been wrapped in foil and used to store the 300g of TATP which made up the main charge for the device found in a Lidl bag on the tube.
In the kitchen drawer were similar knives to ones which had been used as shrapnel in the device and two screwdrivers were missing from a set in the sitting room which had also been used to multiply the deadly effect of the device.
In the conservatory were empty packets of screwdriver socket sets which had also been used in the device, Alison Morgan, prosecuting, said.
Left out on the table in the conservatory was a bottle of acid that Hassan had allegedly used to mix with his chemicals and on the top of the wardrobe was a container of hydrogen peroxide.
The jury was told that the TATP may been too wet and the fireball could have been caused by excess acetone, one of the ingredients.
Hassan spent most of the proceedings bending over so that he could not see the court.
He denies attempted murder and causing an explosion likely to endanger life and the trial continues.
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