A British man who had planned an attack against a base of the Air Force in northern England with a homemade bomb using explosives taken from fireworks was imprisoned on Friday for almost 40 years.
The judgment judge said that Mohammad Farooq, 29, had been inspired by the Islamic State and was radicalized online.
Farooq was convicted last July of preparing terrorism acts after a trial at Sheffield Crown Court. He had declared himself guilty before the trial of possessing an explosive substance with the intention of endangering life and other crimes after being arrested outside the St James hospital in Leeds in January 2023.
Farooq was caught by the police in the hospital, where he had previously worked as a nursing student, with a homemade bomb containing almost 10 kilograms of explosives extracted from fireworks.
Judge Bobbie Cheema-Grubb said that Farooq had originally addressed Raf Menwith Hill, a base of the Royal Air Force in North Yorkshire that is also used by US forces.
“But realizing that it would be impossible to put your device to detonate anywhere closer than the well -protected perimeter, it changed the tactics to a softer goal,” he said.
Farooq was imprisoned for a minimum of 37 years in prison before it could be considered for probation.
“Farooq was dangerously close to damaging innocent people,” said the Superintendent of the anti -terrorism police Paul Greenwood.
