A trainee nurse has been found guilty of attempting to launch an ISIS-inspired suicide attack using a homemade bomb on the hospital where he worked.
Mohammad Sohail Farooq, 28, was arrested outside St James’s Hospital in Leeds with a viable bomb, manufactured from a pressure cooker containing 9.9kg of low explosive, in January last year.
Sheffield Crown Court heard he immersed himself in an “extremist Islamic ideology” and went to the site to “seek his own martyrdom” through a “murderous terrorist attack”.
But his plan was thwarted by a “simple act of kindness” from a patient at the hospital who engaged him in conversation outside the building and managed to persuade him to abandon the plan.
It can be disclosed that police discovered Farooq had watched antisemitic videos on the TikTok social media site and had taken a photograph on his phone of a plaque which commemorated Jewish links to the hospital.
Investigations revealed that he had been carrying out a secret poison pen campaign against several colleagues after he was made to repeat a year of his course because he was regularly ringing in sick and did not pass the required exams.
Farooq had originally planned to attack RAF Menwith Hill in North Yorkshire, but switched targets after conducting a series of reconnaissance trips and finding it was too well guarded.
Farooq claimed his bomb was meant to be twice as powerful as the one used in the 2013 Boston Marathon bombings. Pic: PA
Prosecutors said Farooq had followed guidance in a terrorist manual titled: “Safety and security guidelines for lone wolf mujahedeen and small cells” to have two plans for his terrorist attack – a “Plan A” and a “Plan B” in case the first was not possible.
However, the plot was prevented by Nathan Newby, a patient at the hospital. After returning from a walk to get some air, he saw Farooq outside the entrance to the Gledhow Wing of the hospital.
Jonathan Sandiford KC, for the prosecution, earlier told the court: “Mr Newby realised something was amiss and instead of walking away, he began talking to the defendant.
“That simple act of kindness almost certainly saved many lives that night.”
Farooq did not give evidence during his trial but admitted to police that he had made the bomb while in his car at night, parked outside Roundhay Park in Leeds.
On Tuesday he was found guilty of preparing terrorist acts.
He had earlier pleaded guilty to firearms offences, possessing an explosive substance with intent and having a document likely to be useful to a person preparing or committing an act of terrorism.
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