Court sees film of 'tube bomb detonation'

Dramatic CCTV footage of the moment when one of the alleged July 21 bombers tried to detonate his rucksack bomb and failed was revealed for the first time today.

Ramzi Mohammed was the first of four men to try to cause chaos on London's transport system that day.

The pictures showed the 25-year-old boarding a busy Tube train with a rucksack, and turning with his back towards a mother and her child before detonating the bomb.

Panic ensued as passengers desperately tried to flee the scene and escape the would-be bomber.

Only one man, fireman Angus Campbell, stayed to try to remonstrate with the alleged attacker.

The driver of the Tube train, which was travelling from Stockwell to Oval on the Northern Line, carried on until he reached an open platform. The jury watched in silence as the CCTV footage played out over a minute, showing Mohammed and Mr Campbell alone in the carriage at 12.26pm.

At one point, Mohammed dropped the rucksack to the ground and pointed at it repeatedly.

Prosecution counsel Nigel Sweeney QC said Mohammed tried to offer an excuse as to what had taken place.

Mr Sweeney said: "Mohammed said not that it was a bomb, but rather 'What's the matter, it is bread, it isn't me, it was that', pointing to the rucksack.

"He placed the rucksack on the floor of the carriage, no doubt the best he could do, being surprised to find himself alive."

When the train pulled into Oval station and the doors finally opened, Mohammed dashed on to the platform, chased by members of the public.

Grainy footage showed him sprinting up the down escalator, briefly pausing to use his ticket to get through the gates, and then running as fast as possible out of the station.

As he fled, Mohammed was chased by several members of the public, frantically waving their arms and shouting at him.

The alleged bomber was then seen running from Oval station to the nearby Cowley estate, where he ran in circles and got rid of his distinctive top with the words "New York" emblazoned across it.

Mr Sweeney showed the jury photographs of what was left after Mohammed fled, focusing on a pile of oozing substance lying on the floor of the Tube carriage.

Explosive experts quickly identified the substance as hydrogen peroxide.

Muktar Said Ibrahim, 28, of Stoke Newington, north London; Ramzi Mohammed, 25, from North Kensington, west London; Yassin Omar, 26, from New Southgate, north London; Hussain Osman, 28, of no fixed address; Manfo Kwaku Asiedu, 33, of no fixed address; and Adel Yahya, 24, of High Road, Tottenham, north London, all deny charges of conspiracy to murder and conspiracy to cause explosions likely to endanger life.

Earlier, the jury was shown footage of Mohammed, Ibrahim, and Omar making their way to Stockwell Tube station, each wearing a rucksack.

Once at the station, they split up, Omar travelling on the Victoria Line while Ibrahim and Mohammed headed towards the Northern Line.

Mr Sweeney focused on Mohammed, who was shown standing on the platform. He said: "He was wearing a hooded top with the words 'New York' across the chest, no doubt intended to refer to the events of 9/11."

He said the alleged bomber had a special slit in his rucksack where the wires of his explosive device could pass through and into his clothes without being seen.

A battery to trigger the bomb was placed in his left-hand trouser pocket, the court heard. Mr Sweeney said one member of the public noted Mohammed behaving strangely before getting on the train.

"As he waited to board the train, a fellow traveller noticed that he appeared to be whistling to himself.

"He boarded the train in the second carriage. The carriage was quite full and he stood."

Mr Sweeney said Mohammed was standing closest to a woman called Nadia Baro, who was in the carriage with her child in a pushchair.

Mr Sweeney said: "Whilst the train was in the tunnel between the stations, Mohammed turned so that his rucksack was facing the mother and child by him, and fired the bomb.

"The detonator charged but the main fire did not."

Earlier, the court was told the would-be bombers spent three months purchasing and manufacturing their home-made bombs.

Receipts and traces of evidence were found by police at Curtis House in New Southgate, where Omar lived. DNA from several of the defendants was also identified.

It was also revealed today that one of the alleged bomb plotters got engaged just five days before the attempted attacks.

Omar went through an engagement ceremony at Finchley Mosque, north London, which some witnesses even described as a marriage, Mr Sweeney said. The date was Sunday July 17.

The court then heard details of how Omar tried to detonate his rucksack bomb on a Victoria Line train near Warren Street station.

Mr Sweeney said Omar may have been thrown up into the air by the force of his detonator firing. Again, the main charge failed to explode and he made his escape, the court was told.

Omar boarded the northbound Victoria Line tube train at Stockwell station at 12.26pm. It passed through several stations towards Warren Street. After the train had left Green Park station Omar asked one of his fellow passengers how to change for the Piccadilly Line.

"An interesting question by him given that the Piccadilly Line had been attacked 14 days before and was still suffering the after effects of those events," Mr Sweeney said.

Omar had in fact just missed the most convenient change which was at Green Park itself.

As the train was approaching Warren Street, at 12.37pm Omar, who was in the second carriage, set off his bomb, the court was told. The detonator fired but the main charge did not.

The train alarm was activated by passengers and the driver pulled the train fully onto the platform at Warren Street.

"When the device detonated Omar was heard to shout out, in what appeared to be pain.

"He may have in fact been blown up into the air by the blast. He staggered as he walked along the carriage after that."

As the doors opened Omar tried to flee amidst the mass of people piling out of the train, it was alleged.

One witness saw a hole in the back of his t-shirt from which protruded two wires estimated to be 20cm in length, Mr Sweeney said.

The jury was played CCTV footage of Omar escaping through the crowds on the platform, up the escalator at Warren Street and into the lobby where he vaulted the gate and fled the station.

Mr Sweeney said that station staff remembered the "terror and panic" on the faces of many of the passengers as they hurriedly left the train.

The container which held Omar's alleged bomb had split leaving the main charge on the floor of the carriage. Explosives experts were called to the scene and they placed the main charge in an anti-static bag inside a box.

Later they discovered the main charge had reacted with itself and melted the nylon bag, the court heard. It was ultimately destroyed but not before samples had been taken from the residue.

Mr Sweeney said that as Omar fled the station he went north up Hampstead Road and approached a woman and asked her to call him a taxi. She noticed that he had dried peeling skin and white stains on his hands, "no doubt from the peroxide", Mr Sweeney added.

He then approached two women in full traditional Muslim dress.

"He demanded of the younger woman that she take him to her home," Mr Sweeney said. "When she declined he said words to the effect of 'What kind of Muslim are you not helping another Muslim?'"

Omar then went to the Granby Grill, a nearby taxi-drivers' cafe, where he asked for water with which to clean his face and hands, the court heard. Again witnesses noticed the tear in the back of his t-shirt.

Osman had remained at Delgarno Gardens. He carried his alleged bomb in a purple, green and black rucksack with a tear in the back for the wires, the court was told.

In the rucksack he also carried his Southbank Club card, containing his address and photograph, an envelope containing torn-up photographs of himself, religious correspondence and prayer times, perfume, a towel, headscarf and T-shirt.

"If you are expecting to die, it does not matter at all if you have in your rucksack pictures of yourself," Mr Sweeney said.

"If you are carrying out a hoax in which you are hoping to get away, leaving behind your own club card with your name and picture and pictures of yourself with your fingerprints on would seem to be rather unwise."

Osman went to Westbourne Park station and boarded a Hammersmith and City Line train. Several witnesses noticed that Osman appeared to be talking to himself.

As the train was between Latimer Road and Shepherd's Bush, the 16 passengers who were in Osman's Tube carriage heard a "loud bang".

"Some passengers recall him (Osman) being thrown off his feet and landing on the floor of the carriage still wearing his rucksack," Mr Sweeney said.

A yellow foam-like substance then spilled out and Osman discarded his alleged bomb.

Several passengers saw a black wire coming from the back of his shirt.

The Tube driver stopped the train before continuing to Shepherd's Bush station. Osman allegedly squeezed himself between two carriages to escape.

He went out through the window and tried to climb on to the roof of the train before jumping down on the opposite side from the platform.

He then walked to the back of the train and passengers saw him make his way along the tracks until he disappeared over a trackside wall, the court was told.

After the device failed to explode, Osman escaped by jumping down onto the track on the opposite side from the platform and scaling a fence, the court heard.

Mr Sweeney said he then jumped into a back garden of a terraced house bordering the track, hurting himself in the process.

He said: "During the course of jumping down, the defendant injured his right leg."

Due to the hot weather, the windows in the house were open and Osman managed to pass through the dining room, into the corridor and out through the front door without being stopped.

A retired nurse who was in the house at the time said she heard noises like someone jumping and then someone moving through her house.

Mr Sweeney said: "The man said 'I won't hurt you, I am just passing through' or words to that effect."

The alleged bomber then fled and was spotted on CCTV cameras heading past BBC Television Centre, White City, under the A40 and towards Hammersmith.

He then caught a No.220 bus down to Wandsworth.

Mr Sweeney said a print on the carpet at the retired nurse's home matched that of a pair of boots found dumped in a wooded area in Brighton.

Turning to Ibrahim, the court was told how he travelled by Tube from Stockwell to Bank.

From there he walked to a bus stop nearby and waited for two buses to pass before boarding the No.26.

CCTV footage showed him finding a seat on his own at the back of the bus, with only three or four other people on the upper deck. At the junction of Shoreditch High Street and Hackney Road he detonated his bomb, shortly after 1pm.

Mr Sweeney said it was significant that he had gone upstairs: "You may remember that the 7/7 bomb was also upstairs."

When the detonator failed to set off the main charge, frightened passengers immediately reacted, turning round upon hearing the noise and fleeing the bus.

Ibrahim was caught up in the ensuing panic as people tried to get off the vehicle.

He managed to flee without being detained.