LONDON (Reuters) - A man who tried to smuggle a pipe bomb onto a flight from Britain’s Manchester Airport was jailed on Wednesday for 18 years for possessing explosives with intent to endanger life.

Nadeem Muhammad, 43, was trying to board a Ryanair flight to Italy on January 30 when security officials discovered the explosive device hidden in his carry-on luggage. Built inside a sealed marker pen barrel, the bomb had been designed to be activated manually.

Muhammad said that one of his children - the oldest of whom is 11 years old – probably put the pipe bomb in his luggage. But prosecutors said Muhammad intended to detonate the device during the Ryanair flight.

“Today, Nadeem Muhammad was given an 18 year prison sentence,” the Crown Prosecution Service said in a tweet.

The CPS added that a parole board would decide if he is safe to be released.