The suicide bomber who blew himself and a taxi up outside a Liverpool maternity hospital on Remembrance Sunday began building his killer device seven months ago, it was revealed today.
Police have also yet to find any evidence that failed asylum seeker Emad Al Swealmeen, 32, conspired with or was inspired by a terror group, suggesting he was a ‘lone wolf’ who became radicalised online during lockdown.
One theory is that the bomber was suffering a mental health crisis having been devastated at his continued failure to gain asylum here because the Home Office refused to believe he was Syrian. Today it emerged his next of kin have told police he was born in Iraq.
In an update on the investigation Assistant Chief Constable Russ Jackson, Head of Counter Terrorism Policing North West, said that the pizza chef who converted from Islam to Christianity began renting his flat in Rutland Avenue, Liverpool at around Easter.
ACC Jackson said: ‘A complex picture is emerging over the purchases of the component parts of the device, we know that Al Swealmeen rented the property from April this year and we believe relevant purchases have been made at least since that time’.
He added: ‘At this time we are not finding any link to others in the Merseyside area of concern but this remains a fast moving investigation and as more becomes known we cannot rule out action against others’.
Police have also yet to find any evidence that failed asylum seeker and pizza chef Emad Al Swealmeen, 32, conspired with or was inspired by a terror group, suggesting he was a ‘lone wolf’ who became radicalised online during lockdown.
His homemade bomb blew up as he approached the hospital. Experts have suggested it could have been a poorly made Mother of Satan device or even one put together with fireworks
Aerial view of the aftermath of the explosion at the Liverpool Women’s Hospital and the burnt out taxi
A forensics officer walks past police officer upon arrival to a property on Rutland Avenue, a flat he rented from April and where he began building his bomb
Confirming the terrorist’s cause of death he said: ‘The post mortem on the deceased has taken place and the cause of death has been described as injuries sustained from the fire and explosion.’
He also said that the 32-year-old asylum seeker had suffered from periods of mental illness that will “form part of the investigation and will take some time to fully understand”.
Mr Jackson added: “There is much comment in the media about Al Swealmeen and it is clear that he was known to many people. We continue to appeal for people who knew him, especially those who associated with him this year as we try and piece together the events leading up to this incident and the reasons for it’.
His 1lb bomb went off as his taxi pulled up at the Liverpool Women’s Hospital just before the 11am national silence on Remembrance Sunday.
There have been conflicting reports about what the device was made of.
Some insiders claimed it was packed with ball bearings and made using homemade TATP explosives. TATP is unstable and known as a ‘Mother of Satan’ because it is liable to blow up accidentally. It was used by Islamist terrorist in the Paris suicide attacks of 2015, the Manchester Arena bombing in 2017 and the failed Parsons Green Underground station.
But other experts believe he may have bought his explosives online or on the high street and may have even constructed his home-made improvised explosive device (IED) using seasonal fireworks.
Detectives are now trying to trace Al Swealmeen’s movements to discover whether he bought his explosives online or on the high street. Experts now fear the bomber constructed his home-made improvised explosive device (IED) using seasonal fireworks.
A former counter-terror official told The Telegraph: ‘The white smoke that can be seen billowing out of the cab could indicate the use of gunpowder and there is also a flash within the cab itself which could be powder burning.
‘It is possible to construct homemade devices using fireworks, but it still requires a degree of expertise and planning.’
There are suspicions that he might have followed a recipe for the material used by the 7/7 bombers who targeted London in 2005.
Worryingly, no one who knew him raised the alarm about his behaviour. His local mental health trust said he had previously been receiving help, but was no longer a patient.
A Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust spokesman said: ‘We can confirm Emad Al Swealmeen had previously accessed our services but was not a service user at the time of the incident.’
Friends said Al Swealmeen had wrestled with depression and was sectioned in 2014 after he was rejected for asylum for the first time.
They recalled how the bomber was so ‘car mad’ that he nicknamed himself ‘GT’ and had the initials tattooed on his arm along with a chequered flag.
He changed his name to Enzo Almeni – after the Ferrari boss – and loved go-karting so much that that he bought his own helmet and got friends to sign it.
He was a regular at the TeamSport Go-karting track, on Liverpool’s Brunswick docks, often going with his housemates or on his own to race laps.
Friends said they were astounded that the ‘quiet and bashful’ young man, who was also a big fan of country singer Johnny Cash, was behind the Poppy Day bomb.
Forensic officers remain at Liverpool Women’s Hospital gathering evidence after the blast
Malcolm and Elizabeth Hitchcott gave Al Swealmeen a room in their home for eight months in 2017
One, who knew Al Swealmeen through his job at a pizza takeaway, said: ‘He called himself GT because he loved cars, it was a little nickname he gave himself, he even had it tattooed on his arm.
‘He was quiet, but not in a weird way, he was just really shy. I nearly fell off my chair when I saw his picture. Of all the people that worked in the takeaway he would have been bottom of my list to do something so sick.
‘He was reserved, but not like he was hiding something, more like he was lacking in confidence. He did speak to me about feeling depressed one time, but didn’t really go into it. At the time he lived in a shared house with a few others and all he cared about was go-karting.
‘He showed me his helmet that he had bought, he was really excited about it. He went go-karting a few times on his own, he was so into it, and I remember him getting a tattoo and showing it off.
‘He also loved Johnny Cash and he told me he wanted to get a Johnny Cash tattoo too.’
Malcolm Hitchcott, 77, a lay pastor and retired Army officer who gave Al Swealmeen a room in his home for eight months in 2017, remembered accompanying him on a trip to the track.
Pictures on social media show him in racing overalls at the karting venue, where he took part in ‘Top Gun’ marathon karting races and ’50-lap’ events. ‘He got me to sign his helmet, rather like Lewis Hamilton signs helmets [for fans],’
Mr Hitchcott added: ‘He never spoke about a particular driver but he loved Ferrari, he was a Ferrari man. His email address was Ferrari-related too. He was very interested in motor racing.’
Al Swealmeen is understood to have ordered a taxi from Rutland Avenue to the Crown Street hospital shortly before 11am on Remembrance Sunday
The indoor facility boasts 40mph karts and several of Liverpool’s sporting greats such as Jamie Carragher, Sam Quek and Tony Bellew on its celebrity leaderboard.
But a source said Al Swealmeen had not been to the track for over a year. Last night the businessman who employed Al Swealmeen at his pizza takeaway for several months in around 2016 said he was a ‘nice, polite guy’.
‘I was shocked when I saw who it was,’ the man, who did not want to be named, said.
‘I still can’t believe it. He was a nice, polite guy. He wasn’t a practising Muslim, he told me he lived with a Christian family, and he definitely wasn’t a fanatic.
‘I’ve employed Muslims before, some of them don’t like touching ham if it isn’t Halal, but he didn’t seem worried about that.
‘He worked part-time for me, he had a visa and was legit. I paid him about £50 a day.
‘Never in a million years would I think him capable of something like that.’
The friend agreed Al Swealmeen was not religious.
‘He never really talked about religion,’ he added.
‘I didn’t think he practised any faith, although I do remember him telling me one time he had been to church and was trying to get to know people there.
‘I would love to know what happened to him over the past few years. He must have been manipulated or corrupted. The man I knew and what he did on Sunday – they are like night and day.’
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