A clinical support worker who took a viable pressure cooker bomb into a hospital intending to “kill as many nurses as possible” has been jailed for at least 37 years.
Mohammad Farooq, 29, of Leeds, also plotted a terrorist attack on RAF Menwith Hill, a top-secret spy base in North Yorkshire.
At Sheffield crown court Mrs Justice Cheema-Grubb jailed Farooq for life with a minimum term of 37 years and praised a patient at St James’s hospital who managed to talk the defendant out of exploding his bomb.
During his trial, Farooq was called “a self-radicalised lone wolf terrorist” who would have killed many people were it not for Nathan Newby, a hospital patient, who was described by the judge as “an extraordinary, ordinary man”.
She said Newby’s “decency and kindness on 20 January 2023 prevented an atrocity in a maternity wing of a major British hospital”. His evidence had been “among the most remarkable this court has ever heard”, she said.
The judge told Farooq: “This was deliberately to cause maximum damage to life. But at the end, your courage failed you and the kind thoughtfulness of a passing stranger saved you and those you targeted.
“You were prepared to do the unthinkable. To explode a bomb in a hospital.
“Your responsibility is not reduced by the fact that you lost your bottle and were persuaded, while in emotional turmoil, to stand down and let Mr Newby call the police.”
Farooq’s homemade bomb was modelled on those detonated at the 2013 Boston Marathon but with twice the amount of explosives. The court heard that nearly 10kg of explosives had been put inside the pressure cooker.
After the sentencing, Phil Wood, the chief executive of Leeds teaching hospitals NHS trust, also praised Newby for his “courage and initiative” that day.
Wood said: “Today’s sentencing helps us continue to move on from the events of that morning.
“It was an extremely difficult time for staff and patients, and I remain immensely proud of the calm and professional way in which they responded on the day to keep everyone safe.”
During a three-week trial at Sheffield crown court, a jury heard how Farooq was motivated by an interest in radical Islam and jihad.
The prosecutor Jonathan Sandiford KC said Farooq told Newby, who was outside having a cigarette, about his grievances towards his colleagues and his plan to take the bomb into the hospital and “kill as many nurses as possible”.
Although Farooq did not give evidence in his trial, his lawyers claimed he was not motivated by ideology, arguing instead that he worked at the hospital and had a long-running grievance with nurses on his ward.
Bethan David, the head of the Crown Prosecution Service counter-terrorism division, said: “Examination of his electronic devices revealed a hatred towards his colleagues at work and those he considered non-believers.
“The extremist views Farooq holds are a threat to our society, and I am pleased the jury found him guilty of his crimes.”
Farooq admitted firearms offences, possessing an explosive substance with intent and having a document likely to be useful to a person preparing or committing an act of terrorism.
He denied charges of preparing acts of terrorism but was found guilty after a trial last year.
