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A would-be suicide attacker who tried to bring down plane from Manchester Airport with a 'pen bomb' has been jailed for 18years.

Nadeem Muhammed, 43, from Bury, was found guilty earlier this month of trying to board a Ryanair flight to Italy with a viable device in his hand luggage.

Amazingly, he was then allowed on a plane from the same airport just a week later.

His trial heard the bomb, built inside a sealed marker pen barrel, was designed to be activated manually and was intended to be detonated in the confined space of the Boeing 737 - and bring it down.

It could not have been detonated remotely or automatically, the court was told.

MirrorOnline previously reported how chilling CCTV footage showed Muhammed casually strolling through Manchester Airport with a pipe bomb hidden in his suitcase.

(Image: PA)

In the video, Nadeem Muhammed can be seen getting off a train at the airport's station before walking across the platform and through Terminal 3.

All the while, he is carrying a small, green case - containing a pipe bomb made of masking tape, batteries, the tube of a marker pen, pins and wires.

The 43-year-old was planning to board a flight to Italy on January 30 when security officers uncovered the device in his hand luggage.

(Image: GMPolice/Youtube)

A court heard he had been planning to detonate the bomb - which was found in the object's zip lining - once on board the Boeing 737.

The court heard the "crude improvised explosive device" was discovered by airport security when Muhammed's hand luggage went through scanners.

But when airport security swabbed the bomb, there was no trace of explosives on the outside and officers did not believe it was a viable device.

(Image: GMPolice/Youtube)

It was initially kept in the pocket of Deborah Jeffrey, the security manager at Terminal Three, before being handed to police.

Muhammed was questioned by officers from the counter terrorism unit but released.

He returned to the airport the following day to collect his mobile phone, which had been taken by police, and then again on February 5, when he boarded another flight to Italy.

It was only on February 8 when the device was examined by forensics officers that suspicions were raised and the bomb squad was called.

(Image: GMPolice/Youtube)

The explosive was then sent for examination by expert Lorna Philp, who found it was a "crude but potentially viable improvised explosive device".

The device contained double base smokeless propellant, normally found in firearms ammunition, which was made up of nitroglycerin and nitrocellulose.

Italian police raided Muhammed's home and workplace on February 9 and took him to a police station.

But he was released again after a couple of hours and on February 12 boarded another flight back to the UK.

He was arrested when he arrived back at Manchester Airport.

(Image: GMPolice/Youtube)

The prosecution argued that the only reason for Muhammed to take the device through airport security was to detonate it in the confined space of the plane.

This would have endangered the lives of passengers while causing serious damage to the aircraft.

Muhammed was arrested on February 12 this year - and when questioned he initially claimed that one of his five children may have put the so-called pipe bomb in his luggage.

During the trial he insisted that he was not aware of the device - and that it must have been placed in his bag by an unknown third party.

(Image: PA)

He was sentenced today at Manchester Crown Court.

Sue Hemmin, Head of the Special Crime and Counter Terrorism Division in the CPS, said prior to sentencing: "Despite extensive investigation, Nadeem Muhammed's motive for attempting to take this device onto a plane remains unknown.

"However it is clear that the consequences, had he been successful, could have been disastrous.

"The CPS put a strong case to the jury resulting in him being found guilty today.

"He will now be held accountable for his actions."