Suspect being questioned over improvised bomb is thought be 19-year-old from Devon who recently moved to London

This article is more than 3 years old

This article is more than 3 years old

A man arrested on Friday in connection with an improvised bomb found at a London tube station has been named as first-year university student Damon Smith, 19.



Police found the device at North Greenwich underground station last Thursday. Smith was arrested after being Tasered on Holloway Road, north London, on Friday lunchtime on suspicion of preparing terrorist acts.



Counter-terrorism officers sealed off a road and evacuated homes in Newton Abbot, Devon, to search a property in connection with the case on Saturday afternoon, and a local football game was interrupted so that helicopters could land on the pitch.

The police found a second improvised bomb behind a garage, which police later said was “not viable” as a device.



Neighbours revealed that Smith, who had once wanted to be a policeman, lived at the Devon address with his mother until he moved to London for university weeks ago.

Alan Warburton, 40, who lives nearby, said Smith was “always nice”, adding: “He just came across as an intelligent kid. He didn’t go to mainstream school for a bit because he used to get bullied because he sounded like a girl.”

Warburton said Smith’s arrest and the raid was “scary” adding: “He would say when he was finished at uni he would leave and train as a police officer.”

Smith described himself as a fan of online poker and posted videos of himself gambling to his social media accounts. Warburton said: “He would go to casinos and his mum would take him.”

He added there were rumours circulating locally that the garden of Smith’s former house would be dug up as some said “there’s more bombs”.

Alec Smith, 23, said Damon used to be friends with his younger brother Connor, 19, and was into martial arts. He also said Damon had been bullied at school. “I used to play poker with Damon in Torquay. He was always sat on his own waiting for the games to start,” he said.

Sid Moslehi, who runs the Jolly Abbot pub opposite Smith’s former home, said: “I’d seen him before but knew nothing about him. It was surprising for everybody. I feel sorry for the family.”



Smith and his mother left Newton Abbot “six or seven weeks ago”, neighbours said, when he moved to start a course at London Metropolitan University, which has a campus on Holloway Road.

A spokesman for the university confirmed that he enrolled three weeks ago. His mother is understood to have moved to the capital with him.

Westminster magistrates court granted a warrant on Saturday for the police to hold Smith for questioning until Friday lunchtime.