A baby-faced poker fanatic and 'mummy's boy' was today revealed to be at the centre of a major counter-terror investigation into a crude bomb left on a Tube train.

The investigation took a dramatic turn when officers in Newton Abbot, Devon, raided the former home of Damon Smith, 19, and found a suspicious device.

He was later named as the suspect being questioned by police investigating the device found and blown up by anti-terror police at North Greenwich in London last week.

Smith, who has been described as a 'loner', was filmed being Tasered and wrestled to the ground a short distance from Holloway Road Tube station, about nine miles from the Tube station where the package was found.

He moved to London over the summer to start an IT course at London Metropolitan University three weeks ago, and his mother Antonitza, 49, came up from the West Country with him fearing he may not cope on his own.

Damon Smith (pictured, right), described as a 'mummy's boy', enjoys a milkshake with his mother Antonitza (left) and has been arrested after a crude bomb was left on the Tube

Held: Damon Smith, 19, was named locally as the suspect being quizzed by police investigating a device which sent part of London into lockdown

Photographs posted online show him showing off wads of cash and chips and he is an avid follower of several high-rolling card game stars

Last night he remained in custody and is being questioned on suspicion of preparing terrorist acts.

Friends said Mr Smith was interested in Islam and the Syria conflict, and had recently begun reading the Koran.

Meanwhile, anti-terror cops have been searching his London home and neighbours revealed that the night before the bomb was found Smith had won £500 playing poker online.

According to neighbours of the small two bedroom house in south London, the mother and son moved in around May.

Police have been at the searching day and night and have dug up part of the small back garden, with a large white and yellow forensic tent visible from the rear.

June Youlton, 72, who lives next to the small house with her grandson, said: 'They moved in here at the beginning of May.

'We used to chat with them a lot. I gave her a bit of stuff when they moved in.

'She was very, very nice. He was very shy and he was definitely a mummy's boy, but I got on with him fine.'

'He had very slight autism, Aspergers I think. She was his support so he didn't have to go into halls. "I never heard anything out of either of them at night.'

Asked about Damon's habits, she said: 'He was go out two or three times a week playing poker.

'I'm an early bird and their lights would be on and the mum would say "he was playing poker until 4 o'clock this morning" on his computer.'

She revealed on Thursday last week he said he had won £500 at poker the night before.

And yesterday police swamped the small town of Newton Abbot as officers searched the address he had shared with his mother until moving to London to study and discovered another device.

Devon police called in Scotland Yard, which sent in officers by helicopter and evacuated locals amid fears of an explosion.

Roads were closed, football matches cancelled to allow helicopters to land and drinkers told they could not leave a local pub.

But experts ruled that the item discovered in the house was not a viable explosive device.

Police have been searching the home Smith shared with his mother in south London

Police attended the home of Damon Smith, 19, in Bermondsey, south London, on Monday

Officers attended the home where Smith moved over the summer to start an IT course at London Metropolitan University

Relatives said they 'would not talk about it' when asked about Mr Smith's arrest yesterday. His mother Antonitza, 47, was in hiding in nearby Torquay.

He has been described as a 'mummy's boy' and Mr Smith had moved out of the house in Devon and relocated to London several months ago with his mother, who requested a council house transfer.

His arrest came three weeks after he started his university career on North London, and was arrested outside his campus.

A London Metropolitan University spokesman said: 'We can confirm that Damon Smith joined our University as a new student three weeks ago. We won't be making any further comment at this time'.

One neighbour in Devon said: 'Damon went to go to university. He just seemed like a really gentle lad.

'Mum felt she needed to still be nearby to cook his dinner and stuff. I think that was another reason why I thought he was a bit vulnerable.

'They were always together, I don't really remember him being with anyone else. He didn't have a big friendship circle or anything.'

Officers discharged Tasers during the arrest on Holloway Road, north London, after a suspicious device was blown up in a controlled explosion

They then investigated his former home in Devon, where they found another suspicious device

The operation was part of a fast-moving investigation that began on Thursday when an explosive device was found on a Jubilee line Tube train. Bomb disposal experts conducted a controlled explosion after a 'bag of wires' was found in a carriage that had just passed under Canary Wharf and Westminster.

Security sources said the device was 'viable' but at the 'bottom end of seriousness'.

He was a mummy's boy but he didn't appreciate it Neighbour at former Devon home

Thousands of officers were put on standby as a manhunt was launched. Mr Smith was arrested in the street in north London on Friday lunchtime by undercover armed officers.

Residents living near his former home in Newton Abbot, a £100,000 modern terrace close to the local police station, said he had lived there for around five years but moved to London over the summer to attend university and was joined by his mother, who feared he would struggle to cope on his own.

The keen judo fighter, who competed for a local club, was a fanatical poker player who regularly travelled to a casino in Plymouth

They said he was a keen judo fighter, who had competed for a local club, and a fanatical poker player who regularly travelled to a casino in Plymouth. In photographs on his Twitter account, Mr Smith poses with wads of cash he had won.

Other online posts suggest Mr Smith has an interest in guns and the Irish republican cause.

One poker opponent, who played against Mr Smith up to ten times, said he always arrived with his mother and stood out because of his distinctive 'squeaky voice'.

He posted this image of his sleeping on a plane on social media

'He is quite young-looking and always wears a hat,' he said. 'He had a very feminine voice. His mum and him stood out.

'The main thing was his voice. It was squeaky. He sounded like a ten-year-old girl.

'He did not drink alcohol. He was a decent player but he never had much money.'

A mother of another judo fighter at the club Mr Smith fought at said he had been banned from the club for punching her son in the face following a fight.

She added: 'He was always with his mum. He was a mummy's boy but he didn't appreciate it.'

One former neighbour, 81, said: 'He seemed like a normal teenager. You used to see him walking the dog.'

A Metropolitan Police spokesman said they are not looking for anyone else in connection with their inquiry.