Parsons Green attack: Timeline of events surrounding tube bombing
Ahmed Hassan plotted to cause carnage in central London
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Described as "devious" in court, Iraqi asylum seeker Ahmed Hassan is facing years in jail for the Parsons Green Tube bombing which injured 51 passengers when he is sentenced next week.
The Old Bailey in London heard that the 18-year-old plotted to cause carnage in central London under the nose of the anti-terrorism Prevent scheme.
He secretly made 400g of "Mother of Satan" explosives while his foster parents were away and packed the device with 2.2kg of screwdrivers, knives, nuts and bolts.
On the morning of September 15 last year, he left his home and caught a train to Wimbledon carrying the bomb inside a Lidl bag. He was captured on CCTV going into the station toilets, where he set the bomb to blow in 15 minutes, before boarding the District line.
He got off the train one stop before the bomb partially exploded on the floor of the carriage at Parsons Green.
Here is a timeline of the events leading up to the bombing:
- October 2015 – Hassan arrives in the UK on the back of a lorry which travelled through the Channel Tunnel. He is eventually placed into foster care.
- 18 January 2016 – Hassan's claim for asylum is based on his assertion that he was in fear of Isis. He denies the group sent him to Europe to work for them, but reveals that they had trained him to kill. He later tells his trial that he made up the story to strengthen his asylum claim. He tells jurors he had no associations with the terrorist group.
- 19 January – Barnardo's contacts the Counter Terrorism Unit and Prevent following Hassan's immigration interview with the Home Office, to which he was accompanied by one of the charity's workers.
- April 2016 – Hassan is referred to Brooklands College by Surrey Social Services. He starts a media course, during which he enjoys doing some wildlife photography, later telling his trial he wanted to be like Sir David Attenborough.
- June 2017 – Hassan is named student of the year at college and awarded a £20 Amazon voucher.
- 21 August – 3 September 2017 – Hassan carries out searches online for hydrogen peroxide and sulphuric acid, components to make explosives.
- 26 August – Hassan buys five litres of hydrogen peroxide – using his voucher – and gives the delivery address of a friend in Thornton Heath, south London.
- 31 August – Hassan visits his friend to collect the key ingredient which was delivered the day before. CCTV footage captures him on a bus carrying a Lidl carrier bag.
- 1-8 September – Hassan's foster parents are away on holiday in Blackpool.
- 3 September – Hassan buys sulphuric acid from Amazon which is delivered to his home in Sunbury, in Surrey, on 6 September.
- 14 September – On the day before the attack, Hassan visits Asda and Aldi in Feltham to buy the shrapnel for his home-made device. He tells the court he simply wanted to make it look "serious" and used nails because he "wanted something to fill the space in the container". He claims he tested 50g of TATP on the kitchen table, but the prosecution said there were no burn marks or traces of explosives left in its wake.
- 15 September – Day of the bombing.
- Hassan stays awake on a sofa in the conservatory all night with the device next to him.
- At 7am, Hassan leaves his house and boards a train from Sunbury to Wimbledon.
He walks with the bag in hand to the toilets where he spends 13 minutes and allegedly sets the timer on the device.
- At 8.17am CCTV shows Hassan getting off the Tube at Putney Bridge station, no longer carrying the bag.
- Shortly before 8.20am, the homemade device partially detonates on a carriage carrying 93 people.
- At 8.27am, Hassan is seen on a bus travelling towards Earl's Court. He then makes his way to Brighton, Ashford and ends up in Dover by about 2.30pm.
- 16 September – 7.52am Hassan is arrested in the Kent port and later tells officers he was responsible for the bomb.
- 7 March 2018 – Hassan goes on trial at the Old Bailey. He denies attempted murder and using the chemical compound TATP to cause an explosion that was likely to endanger life.
- 13 March – Hassan gives evidence, admitting that he made the device and put it on the train, but saying he did not intend for it to explode or anyone to be harmed. He claims it was the result of a fugitive fantasy he had in his head, inspired by action movies and documentaries. He tells jurors he is sorry and regrets his actions, saying: "I wish I could travel back in time and stop it at once, but that's not possible."
- 16 March – A jury convicts Hassan of attempted murder at the Old Bailey. He is remanded in custody to be sentenced on a date to be fixed next week.
PA