Taxi driver survived Liverpool hospital bomb blast due to one key factor
A taxi driver may have survived an attempted terrorist attack on a Liverpool hospital due to where the attacker was sitting in the car, said a detective.
David Perry's passenger was 32-year-old Emad Al Swealmeen who had a lethal but "unstable" homemade device packed with hundreds of metal ball bearings to create maximum carnage. It went off by Liverpool Women's Hospital with the shrapnel appearing to go directly forward from where the terrorist was sitting.
Yesterday Counter Terrorism Policing North West (CTPNW) outlined their findings following a two year investigation dubbed Operation Itonia. Det Supt Andy Meeks told the media that Mr Perry collected Al Swealmeen at his rented flat in Rutland Avenue, near Sefton Park, at 10.50am on Sunday November 14, 2021, and arrived at the Toxteth maternity hospital five minutes later.
The moment Mr Perry, from Kirkdale, stopped outside the main entrance the inexpertly built bomb exploded, although it failed to fully detonate. Speaking to reporters on the first anniversary of the explosion, Mr Perry said: "A flash of light hit me. I couldn't see anything, just white smoke.
The car pictured going up in flames"All I could smell was burning. I could smell him burning, I was burning. I knew he was all over me. When I looked down there was a bit of light where the door had billowed open at the bottom and I heard 'get out'."
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CCTV of the blast shows how Mr Perry staggered away from the vehicle, which moments later was incinerated by fire with the corpse of the pizza chef turned terrorist still on the back seat. The 46-year-old can be seen putting his hand to his ear, which was partially blown off in the blast, and clinging to an astonished security guard who rushes to assist.
DS Meeks believes that Mr Perry survived due to the direction of the shrapnel. He told the Liverpool Echo: "It's really difficult to say exactly. I'm reluctant to call him fortunate because he's fortunate to get away with his life but he's really unfortunate to get caught up in an incident like this when he's just trying to do his job.
Mr Perry's positioning in the car appears to have saved him"I think because the shrapnel was ejected directly forwards and Al Swealmeen was in the near-side passenger seat at the rear, so it didn't go towards the driver's side, it went straight ahead the force of the blast. You can see from that image of the windscreen all the ball bearings hit one side of the windscreen. Had he been sat behind then I think the outcome would have been very different."
Forensic analysis of the bombing scene, as well as Al Swealmeen's flat, concluded that the attacker had limited technical knowledge of how to make an improvised explosive device. Small traces of explosive material left behind that had failed to ignite suggested the size of the explosion was intended to be "significantly" larger.
Due to software installed on his phone which hid his browsing history, police were unable to determine where he learned how to make a bomb. However, on one device, an image of the screen from another phone contained partial instructions on how to make explosives.
Mr Perry pictured with his wife Rachel (Daily Mirror)DS Meeks said: "Expert opinion suggests that the configuration of the device was unstable and is therefore likely to have exploded earlier than planned." The press conference heard that Al Swealmeen ordered the chemicals and components of his bomb online between March, 2020, and November, 2021, using the alias 'Wade McLoud' on some orders.
While no direct recordings of his thinking were discovered, it became clear that initially Al Swealmeen had planned a different kind of atrocity. The Iraqi native had been keeping two separate lodgings. His official address was a house of multiple occupation in Sutcliffe Street, Kensington, allocated to asylum seekers. The second was the Rutland Avenue flat, which Al Swealmeen used as a bomb factory.
Alerted to his identity by the phone number used to order Mr Perry's taxi, armed police raided the Sutcliffe Street address within hours and discovered a package wrapped in newspapers under the floorboards of his bedroom.
These were found to contain two partially constructed home-made machine gun style guns, with a number of dummy 9mm and .45 calibre bullet casings. Tools strewn around the property appeared to have been used to experiment with ammunition and create the weapons.
DS Meeks said analysis of his order history suggested that from August 7, 2020, Al Swealmeen's focus had "clearly shifted" towards building a bomb. He said: "In addition to quantities of chemicals, Al Swealmeen, also purchased other items for use in the assembly of the IED including filter papers, chemistry flasks and electrical circuitry and testing equipment.
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"The final online purchase made on November 1, 2021, was for a large quantity of steel ball bearings. These were not delivered until 10th November, just four days before the attack." DS Meeks said there had been no findings that suggested any contact between Al Swealmeen and any extremist or terrorist organisation, and those who knew him said he appeared "fixated" on his failed claim for asylum.
DS Meeks said the attack was likely sparked by a "grievance against the British state" resulting from his seven year battle to be granted asylum, which exacerbated his already poor mental heath. Merseyside Police and Crime Commissioner Emily Spurrell added: "Whilst a precise motive for the attack remains unclear, it is important we try to understand what influenced him to carry out his cowardly deed to better prepare for and deter any attempts to cause mass devastation in the future.
"Today's report raises more concerns around the effectiveness of our asylum system, the way claims are processed, support available to asylum seekers and what procedures are used to monitor those individuals who are refused permission to live in the UK.
"These incidents are thankfully very rare, and I want to reassure our communities that Merseyside Police and Counter Terrorism North-West work around the clock, with all partner agencies to prevent them from happening."
Assistant Chief Constable of Merseyside Police, Jon Roy, said that despite the potential for inflamed tensions after the attack the force had recorded no unexpected rise in hate crimes.
He said: "The reaction of the public was unbelievable; in the face of adversity they were strong and determined and unbowed. Ultimately the aim of terrorists is to create conflict, distrust and fear, but that didn't happen here and people across Liverpool stood shoulder to shoulder. And the tenacity and strength of the management, staff and patients at Liverpool Womens' Hospital was outstanding."
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