Mohammed Rehman filmed himself trying out homemade bomb that he could then ‘up-scale’ to cause multiple fatalities, jurors told

This article is more than 4 years old

This article is more than 4 years old

An Old Bailey jury has been shown video of a man allegedly testing deadly explosives for an suicide bomb attack on London before the 10th anniversary of the 7/7 terror outrage.

Mohammed Rehman filmed himself trying out a homemade bomb in his back garden that he could then “up-scale” to cause multiple fatalities, jurors heard.

He allegedly carried out at least two such tests and sent footage to his secret wife, Sana Ahmed Khan, who funded the purchase of ingredients for a bomb on eBay, the court heard.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Thames Valley police photo of a ‘Jihadi John-style’ hunting knife that was discovered in the Reading home of Mohammed Rehman. Photograph: Thames Valley police/PA

The video was shown during the Old Bailey trial of the couple, who are jointly charged with preparing for a terrorist outrage on or around 28 May this year.



The prosecution has said Rehman was “intent on martyrdom” when he tweeted: “Now I just make explosives in preparation for kuffar lol and when I’ve made the required amount I’ll be wearing them on my chest.”

Counter-terrorism officers were alerted after Rehman, under the name Silent Bomber, asked Twitter followers for advice on which of the two targets to choose – the London underground or Westfield shopping centre, jurors were told.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Chemicals discovered in the Reading home of Mohammed Rehman. Photograph: Thames Valley police/PA

Before police raided his Reading home, he allegedly said he had rigged up a bomb that could be triggered at the touch of a button at his bedside, saying: “Nobody gets in the way of my jihad.”

What officers actually found were a “Jihadi John-style” hunting knife commonly used in extremist imagery and dangerous chemicals for a massive bomb, which was just days away from being completed, jurors were told.

Officers seized more than 10kg of urea nitrate – a highly explosive chemical – which if detonated “would have caused multiple fatalities in a public place”, prosecutor Tony Badenoch QC has said.

He has told jurors: “The evidence suggests that the London underground may well have been on his mind as a potential target as he was particularly fixated with the events of 7/7 and he referred to Shehzad Tanweer, one of the 7/7 suicide bombers, as his ‘beloved predecessor’.”

On 7 July 2005, 52 people lost their lives and more than 770 were injured in the worst terrorist atrocity in the UK since Lockerbie in 1988 and the country’s first suicide bomber attack.

Pictures of items including the hunting knife, chemicals and other paraphernalia seized from Rehman’s home were also shown to the jury.

Rehman, 25, and Khan, 24, both from Reading, deny preparing terrorist acts on or before 28 May this year. Rehman has also pleaded not guilty to a charge of possessing an article for terrorist purposes.

The trial continues.

