Patient 'talked bomb suspect out of blowing up hospital after seeing him upset'

06 November 2023 , 22:46

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St James's hospital in Leeds, West Yorkshire was cordoned off after a suspicious package was found in the early hours of one morning (Image: Ben Lack-YappApp)

A terror trial jury has heard how a hospital patient talked a would-be bomber out of detonating his device in the canteen.

Video of a police interview with Nathan Newby was yesterday played at the trial of Mohammed Farooq. Farooq is accused of planning a terror attack at St James’s Hospital, Leeds. Mr Newby told officers he spotted the defendant as he walked back into St James’s in the early hours of January 20.

He said: “He just looked upset. I’m quite good at reading people’s body language. I thought I’d go over and see if he’s all right. I thought, if he was down, I’d try and cheer him up.” Mr Newby said the defendant told him of being a student or worker at the hospital for two years.

Hero Nathan Newby leaves Sheffield Crown Court after giving evidence in the terror trial of Mohammad Farooq who tried to blow up St James's Hospital in Leeds (Ben Lack Photography Ltd)

Mohammed Farooq, a clinical support worker accused of plotting terror attacks (PA)

But, Mr Newby said, Farooq said he had “lost everything” and now wanted revenge for being “stabbed in the back”. Mr Newby said Farooq kept looking at his bag so he asked what was in it. He said Farooq replied to him: “It’s just a bomb.”

He said Farooq told him of his plan for the hospital canteen, saying: “He was just going to set it off and walk out.” Mr Newby told the officers he persuaded Farooq to move to a bench, where he talked to him for several hours.

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A member of the bomb disposal unit wearing protective equipment at St James's Hospital, Leeds, where patients and staff were evacuated from some parts of the building following the discovery of a suspicious package (PA)

Mr Newby said Farooq eventually expressed a wish to hand himself in, and borrowed Mr Newby’s phone to call 999. During the call he produced a handgun, later exposed as an imitation. Prosecutors have told the Sheffield crown court jury that Farooq’s pressure cooker bomb was a viable device, modelled on one used at 2013’s US Boston Marathon.

Farooq, 28, of Leeds, has admitted possessing a bomb with intent to endanger life and other offences but denies preparing acts of terrorism. He is also accused of planning to attack RAF Menwith Hill, North Yorks.

The trial continues.

Lucy Thornton