Pavlo Lapshyn, 25, accused of killing Mohammed Saleem in Birmingham and charged with three offences over terrorist blasts

This article is more than 7 years old

This article is more than 7 years old

A man has appeared in court charged with the terror-related murder of an 82-year-old grandfather as he walked home from a mosque.

Pavlo Lapshyn, a 25-year-old postgraduate student from Dnipropetrovsk, Ukraine, is accused of killing Mohammed Saleem in Birmingham in April.

Lapshyn has also been charged with three further offences related to three explosions near mosques in Walsall, Wolverhampton and Tipton, Westminster magistrates court heard on Tuesday.

Lapshyn, who is in the UK on a sponsored work placement at a software firm based in the Small Heath area of Birmingham, was arrested last week by officers carrying out a counter-terrorism investigation into the explosions.

Lapshyn spoke only to confirm his name and date of birth and to request to speak to his lawyer during the 10-minute hearing.

The court heard that Lapshyn was charged with carrying out a series of acts with the intention to commit acts of terrorism between 24 April and 18 July, related to the three explosions.

They include purchasing batteries, a lunch bag, clock and container as part of the construction of an explosive device, carrying out internet research and visiting intended locations to plant explosive devices, purchasing chemicals to make explosive devices and modifying mobile phones to act as detonators, it is alleged.

Lapshyn is also charged with two separate offences of unlawfully and maliciously causing an explosion with the intent to danger life or cause serious injury to a person or property on 21 June and 12 July, in Walsall and Tipton respectively.

He was remanded in custody and will next appear at a bail hearing at the Old Bailey on Thursday. He is due to appear at a preliminary trial hearing at the Old Bailey on 2 August.

A second man arrested in connection with the explosions has been released without charge. Police said the 22-year-old man, also from Ukraine, was now helping counter-terrorism officers as a witness.

The pair were initially detained on 18 July on suspicion of being involved in the commission, preparation or instigation of an act of terrorism.

Following their arrest, the "seat of an explosion and debris" were found on a roundabout near the Wolverhampton central mosque. Police believe the debris came from a device that exploded on the city's Fiveways roundabout at about 9.15am on 28 June.

The remnants of a homemade explosive device were found outside a mosque in Walsall on 22 June, and another device, containing nails, exploded near a mosque in Binfield Road, Tipton, on 12 July. No one was injured by any of the explosions.

Saleem was fatally stabbed yards from his house as he walked home alone after worship on 29 April.