Muslim convert admits botched attack on restaurant

A Muslim convert today admitted launching a failed suicide bomb attack on a busy family restaurant.

Nicky Reilly, 22, pleaded guilty at the Old Bailey to attacking the Giraffe restaurant in Exeter.

Reilly, who appeared under the name Mohammad Rashid Saeed-Alim, used the internet to research how to make bombs using caustic soda, paraffin and nails.

But when he attempted to assemble one of the soft drink bottle bombs in the toilet cubicle of the restaurant it exploded in his hands.

Reilly, of King Street, Plymouth, was arrested when he staggered outside after suffering serious facial injuries in the blast on May 22.