JAILED: Neo-Nazi who called for racist terrorism online given six year prison term

June 14, 2022 Article

A neo-Nazi who breached terrorism legislation and posted extreme anti-Black, white supremacist propaganda online was jailed for six years last week.

Forty-year-old Anthony Barraclough, of east London, called for terrorist violence towards Black and other minority ethnic groups on a messaging app where they posted videos of Black communities experiencing racism and material about George Floyd, murdered whilst in police custody in Minneapolis.

Counter-terror officers became aware of Barraclough’s racist calls for terror and violence, and upon an internal investigation by the Counter-Terrorism Internet Referral Unit (CTIRU), officers deemed that material had breached existing terrorism legislation.

Officers from the Met Police arrested Barraclough on February 25, 2021, and a search of their property unearthed neo-Nazi paraphernalia – specified in the news release as a Celtic Cross flag.

They appeared at Kingston Crown Court on May 6 after being charged in October last year.

Anthony Barraclough pleaded guilty to three counts of distributing a terrorist publication – in breach of Section 2(1) of the Terrorism Act 2006, six counts of publishing written materials designed to incite racist hate – contrary to Section 19(1) of the Public Order Act 1986 with one further charge under the same act concerning the admission of distributing a recording to incite racist hate.

He returned to Kingston Crown Court and received a six-year prison sentence on June 10.

Detective Chief Superintendent Dominic Murphy of the Met’s Counter Terrorism Command said in a statement: “Barraclough posted appalling racist material online, with the intention of encouraging others to adopt his extremist views and hatred of black people.

“This kind of online activity is poisonous and dangerous – it is not harmless idle talk, and it often has serious real-world consequences.

“Officers acted quickly to identify the offending content, and investigate and arrest the person posting it.”

 

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Categories: Far Right groups, London, MET Police, Neo-Nazi, News, online hate, terrorism

Man guilty of promoting ‘jihad by sword’ in mosque speech

January 19, 2022 Article

A father whose two sons died fighting in Syria has been found guilty of encouraging violent jihad in a speech at his local mosque.

Abubaker Deghayes, 53, promoted “jihad by sword” when he addressed worshippers at the Brighton Mosque and Muslim Community Centre.

The defendant, who originally comes from Libya, had denied intending to encourage terrorism in his speech to around 50 people, including children and young adults.

On Wednesday, a jury at the Old Bailey found him guilty of the charge.

It can now be reported that two of Deghayes’ sons were killed fighting for Islamists in Syria and he lost a third in a stabbing in the East Sussex city.

Abdul – who had become embroiled with drugs and was murdered by a dealer in 2019 aged 22 – was the twin brother of Abdullah, who was killed fighting in Syria in 2016 aged 18.

Their brother Jaffar, 17, was killed in 2014 while trying to overthrow Bashar Al-Assad’s government.

Amer, another son and former finance student, who also travelled to Syria, is understood to be continuing to fight for the cause.

During his Old Bailey trial, jurors were played a video of Deghayes’ speech at the mosque on Sunday November 1 2020.

In it, he was seen to make a stabbing gesture when talking about jihad.

He told worshippers: “Whose power is more powerful than us? Allah is more powerful than you. You, idiots. You kuffar (non-believers)… The non-believer is an idiot. He’s stupid.”

He went on: “Jihad, jihad, jihad. Jihad is compulsory. Jihad is fighting by sword. That means this jihad is compulsory upon you, not jihad is the word of mouth but jihad will remain compulsory until the Day of Resurrection…”

Prosecutor Ben Lloyd told jurors that the speech was not given “innocently or naively”.

He said: “The prosecution case is clear. By the defendant’s words and gestures he was encouraging people to undertake violent jihad.

“The defendant’s speech demonstrates him to be an Islamic extremist. He is someone who believes in the use of violence in the cause of Islam.

“Or, at the very least, he was reckless in giving his speech as to whether people would be encouraged.”

The defendant, of Saltdean in East Sussex, denied wrongdoing, saying he was explaining the meaning of Jihad by the sword as self-defence.

The gesture he made was a “dance of the blade”, he claimed.

He also referred to Prime Minister Boris Johnson as wearing a face covering now after describing Muslim women as “letter boxes”.

The jury was told nothing about the Deghayes family background.

In 2017, a serious case review identified missed opportunities to prevent Deghayes’ sons from being radicalised before they were killed in Syria.

There was also little understanding of the part religion played in the lives of Abdullah and Jaffar, who were believed to have been with the al Qaida-affiliated Al-Nusra Front when they died, the review added.

The report also contained allegations that their father would wake his children up at 4.30am to study the Koran and would whip them with electrical wire or hand out other punishments if he felt they were not doing this properly.

After the review, their uncle Omar Deghayes – who was arrested in Pakistan in 2002 and spent five years in Guantanamo Bay – hit out at police, claiming they took “no action whatsoever” while his radicalised young nephews were being racially abused.

Following Deghayes’ conviction, he was granted continued bail ahead of sentencing at the Old Bailey on February 25.

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Categories: Abubaker Deghayes, Brighton, Brighton Mosque, Kuffar, News, Saltdean

Ex-Defence Forces soldier in bid to have Islamic State terror charges dropped

January 11, 2022 Article

A former member of the Defence Forces is seeking to have charges of being a member of so-called Islamic State (IS) and financing terrorism dropped at the Special Criminal Court.

Lawyers for Louth woman Lisa Smith, 39, have made an application for the case against her to be dismissed.

It is expected that they will argue there is not sufficient evidence to convict their client on any of the charges.

The case received widespread attention in 2019 when it emerged that Smith, a former Air Corps soldier who had worked on the Government jet, had been detained in Syria over alleged links to IS.

Smith was arrested at Dublin Airport in 2019 on suspicion of terrorist offences after returning from Turkey in November with her young daughter.

She had travelled to Syria a number of years ago after she converted to Islam.

Smith is charged under Section Six of the Criminal Justice (Terrorist Offences) Act 2005 which makes it an offence to join a foreign unlawful organisation.

It is alleged that between October 28, 2015 and December 1 2019 at a location outside the State, she was a member of a terrorist group styling itself as the Islamic State.

She has also been accused of financing terrorism, by sending 800 euro in assistance by Western Union money transfer to a named individual in 2015.

She has denied the charges.

The trial was scheduled to begin on Tuesday, but the non-jury court will first have to deal with pre-trial application.

Read more: IS Bride, Lisa Smith, Was Not A Member of a Terrorist Group, Solicitor Claims

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Categories: Islamic State, Lisa Smith, News, Syria

The Base and Hezbollah to be designated as terror organisations in Australia

November 28, 2021 Article

Australia intends to add far-right extremist group The Base and the entirety of the Lebanese group Hezbollah to its list of outlawed terrorist organisations.

Hezbollah’s External Security Organisation has been listed since 2003, but including all Hezbollah entities as terrorist organisations would make being a member of, or supporting, those entities a criminal offense.

“The group continues to threaten terrorist attacks and provides support to terrorist organisations,” Home Affairs minister Karen Andrews said in a statement.

The Base, which originated in the United States, would become only the second far-right group to be designated a terrorist organisation in Australia after the British-based Sonnenkrieg Division was listed in August.

The remaining 25 terrorist organisations on Australia’s list are Muslim groups.

“The Base is a violent, racist, neo-Nazi group known by security agencies to be planning and preparing terrorist attacks,” Mrs Andrews said.

“The Base is currently proscribed as a terrorist organisation by the governments of Canada and the United Kingdom and is known to have organised paramilitary training camps overseas,” she added.

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Categories: Australia, Hezbollah, News, Sonnenkrieg Division, The Base

Warrant issued for elder brother of Manchester Arena bomber to attend inquiry

November 28, 2021 Article

The elder brother of Salman Abedi will be arrested and brought to the Manchester Arena Inquiry to give evidence if he comes back to the UK, a judge has ruled.

Ismail Abedi, 28, had been ordered to attend the public inquiry into the May 2017 terror attack but boarded a flight to Istanbul from Manchester Airport at the end of August and has not returned.

Bereaved families of the 22 people killed in the explosion labelled him a “coward” for refusing to attend in October and give an account as to how Salman Abedi, 22, had become radicalised.

They said they were “shocked” how he was allowed to leave a day after he missed a flight when he was stopped and questioned by police and told them he was going on a three-week break.

On Friday, Mr Justice Sweeney sitting at Manchester Civil Justice Centre granted an application from inquiry chair Sir John Saunders to issue a bench warrant against Abedi.

Paul Greaney QC, for the applicant, argued Abedi had “important” evidence to give on his younger brother’s path to extremism.

He said the inquiry heard this week that their father, Ramadan Abedi, was associated with the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group, a militia that had links with terror organisation al-Qaeda.

Another Abedi brother, Hashem, 24, was jailed for life last year for the 22 murders by assisting the bomb plot.

Mr Greaney said: “The question that the inquiry would like to pose is was Ramadan Abedi a violent Islamist extremist and if so did that rub off on his sons.”

He said the inquiry also wants to know if Salman and Hashem had received military training in Libya after photographs of the pair holding weapons were found on Ismail’s phone.

Another area to probe would be to ask Ismail if it was “just a coincidence” that Salman spent increased time with mutual friend Abdalraouf Abdallah, 28 – later jailed for terrorism offences – in 2015 and 2016 when he was said to have eschewed his previous partying lifestyle and become more religious, said Mr Greaney.

Finally, Abedi has potential relevant evidence to give, said Mr Greaney, on the preparation of the bomb given his DNA was found on a hammer in a car used to store the explosives.

Rebecca Filletti, appearing for Abedi under his new name of Ben Romdhan, said he was held in custody for two weeks after the attack in 2017 and he was detained again in August this year when his phone was examined, with neither investigation resulting in any criminal charges.

She also pointed out her client aired caution over the issue of forensics as the court would be aware DNA is transferable and the hammer was a moveable object.

Last month, lawyers for Abedi issued a statement in which they said he was unwilling to give evidence and the questions asked by the inquiry are “essentially the same as he was asked by the police”.

He added requiring him to attend before the inquiry would place him and his family at risk.

It is understood Abedi’s wife and child flew out separately to join him.

At the time of the bombing, Ramadan Abedi was in his homeland of Libya where he remains and has not co-operated with the inquiry. Police still want to question him as a suspect.

Friday’s hearing was told Ismail Abedi could face criminal prosecution if he does not attend the inquiry before it ends.

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Categories: Abdalraouf Abdallah, Ben Romdhan, Bomber's brother, Ismail Abedi, Libyan Islamic Fighting Group, News

Christian convert receives death threat following Liverpool bombing

November 22, 2021 Article

A Christian convert at a church connected with the Liverpool bomber has received a death threat in the wake of the Remembrance Sunday terror attack.

Iraq-born Emad Al Swealmeen, the 32-year-old bomber, converted to Christianity in 2015 and in 2017 lived with Christian volunteers Malcolm and Elizabeth Hitchcott, who attended St Philemon’s Church in Toxteth.

The Rev Brian Elfick said Christian converts at St Philemon’s have felt “fearful of coming to church” since the bombing on November 14, with one former asylum seeker receiving a death threat.

“The bombing will have affected our church in a number of ways… those from the Middle East feel much more distrusted and unwelcome,” Mr Elfick told the PA news agency.

“One member of our church family received a death threat… despite having residency.

“Because St Philemon’s has a number of asylum seekers, some on the fringes of church life are fearful of coming to church, but we expect that fear to pass.”

Mr Elfick said Al Swealmeen’s attendance at his church was not “habitual” but many of the congregation “will have met him at some point” through the Hitchcotts, who attended St Philemon’s between 2017 and 2019.

Al Swealmeen reportedly arrived in the UK from the Middle East in 2014 and had an application for asylum rejected the following year, but had a fresh appeal ongoing at the time of his death.

The Home Office is reportedly concerned at the role of the Church of England in converting refugees and Mr Elfick said his church is aware some people fraudulently claim conversion in order to gain asylum.

“We recognise our limits, we cannot look into another person’s heart,” he said.

“We do not facilitate any ‘gaming of the system’ – we are about discipling people, not coaching them through a process.”

Many of St Philemon’s members have converted from other religions, and the church regularly holds services and bible studies translated in Farsi and Sorani.

“We are delighted to have asylum seekers and ex-asylum seekers as members of our church family and we seek to love them as we would anyone else,” Mr Elfick said.

“We are conscious that those who gain asylum often need help in building a new life here and we seek to help them in practical ways to become rooted in their new community.

“St Philemon’s often writes letters of support for church members for any number of reasons, such as school applications, and so does the same for asylum applications.”

A spokesman for Liverpool Cathedral confirmed that the bomber had been baptised in 2015 and confirmed there in 2017, but lost contact with the cathedral the following year.

Bishop Cyril Ashton said he had conducted the confirmation of Al Swealmeen and that the Christian convert “would have been thoroughly prepared with an understanding of the Christian faith”.

Al Swealmeen detonated a homemade bomb outside Liverpool Women’s Hospital just before 11am on November 14, killing himself and injuring taxi driver David Perry.

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Categories: Al-Swealmeen, Christian convert, church, Death threat, Liverpool, Liverpool bomber, Liverpool bombing, News

Christian convert receives death threat following Liverpool bombing

November 22, 2021 Article

A Christian convert at a church connected with the Liverpool bomber has received a death threat in the wake of the Remembrance Sunday terror attack.

Iraq-born Emad Al Swealmeen, the 32-year-old bomber, converted to Christianity in 2015 and in 2017 lived with Christian volunteers Malcolm and Elizabeth Hitchcott, who attended St Philemon’s Church in Toxteth.

The Rev Brian Elfick said Christian converts at St Philemon’s have felt “fearful of coming to church” since the bombing on November 14, with one former asylum seeker receiving a death threat.

“The bombing will have affected our church in a number of ways… those from the Middle East feel much more distrusted and unwelcome,” Mr Elfick told the PA news agency.

“One member of our church family received a death threat… despite having residency.

“Because St Philemon’s has a number of asylum seekers, some on the fringes of church life are fearful of coming to church, but we expect that fear to pass.”

Mr Elfick said Al Swealmeen’s attendance at his church was not “habitual” but many of the congregation “will have met him at some point” through the Hitchcotts, who attended St Philemon’s between 2017 and 2019.

Al Swealmeen reportedly arrived in the UK from the Middle East in 2014 and had an application for asylum rejected the following year, but had a fresh appeal ongoing at the time of his death.

The Home Office is reportedly concerned at the role of the Church of England in converting refugees and Mr Elfick said his church is aware some people fraudulently claim conversion in order to gain asylum.

“We recognise our limits, we cannot look into another person’s heart,” he said.

“We do not facilitate any ‘gaming of the system’ – we are about discipling people, not coaching them through a process.”

Many of St Philemon’s members have converted from other religions, and the church regularly holds services and bible studies translated in Farsi and Sorani.

“We are delighted to have asylum seekers and ex-asylum seekers as members of our church family and we seek to love them as we would anyone else,” Mr Elfick said.

“We are conscious that those who gain asylum often need help in building a new life here and we seek to help them in practical ways to become rooted in their new community.

“St Philemon’s often writes letters of support for church members for any number of reasons, such as school applications, and so does the same for asylum applications.”

A spokesman for Liverpool Cathedral confirmed that the bomber had been baptised in 2015 and confirmed there in 2017, but lost contact with the cathedral the following year.

Bishop Cyril Ashton said he had conducted the confirmation of Al Swealmeen and that the Christian convert “would have been thoroughly prepared with an understanding of the Christian faith”.

Al Swealmeen detonated a homemade bomb outside Liverpool Women’s Hospital just before 11am on November 14, killing himself and injuring taxi driver David Perry.

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Categories: Al-Swealmeen, Christian convert, church, Death threat, Liverpool, Liverpool bomber, Liverpool bombing, News

Ball bearings in Liverpool bomb could have caused significant death, police say

November 19, 2021 Article

The bomb used in the Liverpool Remembrance Sunday attack was a homemade explosive with ball bearings attached to it and could have caused “significant injury or death”, police have said.

Emad Al Swealmeen, 32, died when the taxi he was a passenger in exploded outside the Liverpool Women’s Hospital just before 11am on Sunday.

In an update on Friday, Assistant Chief Constable Russ Jackson, head of Counter Terrorism Police North West, said: “Although there is much scientific work to do on the device to determine what made it up, we have learned a great deal over the past five days.

“It was made using homemade explosive and had ball bearings attached to it which would have acted as shrapnel.

“Had it detonated in different circumstances we believe it would have caused significant injury or death.

“We still do not know how or why the device exploded when it did, but we are not discounting it being completely unintentional, and it is a possibility that the movement of the vehicle or its stopping caused the ignition.

“We are spending considerable time seeking to understand the way the purchases for the ingredients to make the device were made.

“This is complicated because purchases have spanned many months and Al Swealmeen has used many aliases.

“We are confident however that in time we will get a full picture of what purchases were made and how, and if anyone else was involved or knew what Al Swealmeen was up to.”

He said there was no link between the incident and the Manchester Arena bombing in 2017, which he said involved a different type of device.

Taxi driver David Perry escaped from the explosion with injuries.

Mr Jackson said “significant progress” was being made in the investigation, which includes ongoing searches at addresses in Sutcliffe Street and Rutland Avenue in Liverpool.

He said: “Officers spoke with the brother of Al Swealmeen yesterday evening and this has given us an insight into his early years and an understanding of Al Swealmeen’s life and his recent state of mind which is an important line of investigation.

“We are grateful for members of the public who knew him and have contacted us.”

While an Islamist plot is one line of inquiry, the PA news agency understands investigators are still keeping an open mind and the motivation is still yet to be established.

Police and security services are still thought to be working on the current understanding that the hospital was the intended target.

The asylum seeker, who had converted to Christianity, reportedly arrived in the UK from the Middle East in 2014 and had an application for asylum rejected the following year, but had a fresh appeal ongoing at the time of his death.

Earlier this week, Home Secretary Secretary Priti Patel claimed he had been able to exploit Britain’s “dysfunctional” immigration system by staying in the country.

Police said Al Swealmeen had been renting the property in Rutland Avenue, near Sefton Park, since April and was making “relevant purchases” for his bomb from at least that time.

Read more: Liverpool attacker had been buying bomb parts since April

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Categories: Ball bearings, David Perry, Emad Al Swealmeen, Liverpool bomber, Liverpool Remembrance Sunday, News, terrorism

Liverpool attacker had been buying bomb parts ‘at least since April’

November 17, 2021 Article

The Liverpool bomber had been buying bomb components since at least April, police have revealed.

Assistant Chief Constable Russ Jackson said that Iraq-born Emad Al Swealmeen had rented a property in Liverpool seven months ago and had started making “relevant purchases” for his homemade bomb “at least” since that time.

In an update issued on Wednesday he said: “A complex picture is emerging over the purchases of the component parts of the device, we know that Al Swealmeen rented the property from April this year and we believe relevant purchases have been made at least since that time.

“We have now traced a next of kin for Al Swealmeen who has informed us that he was born in Iraq.”

He also said that the 32-year-old asylum seeker had suffered from periods of mental illness that will “form part of the investigation and will take some time to fully understand”.

Mr Jackson added: “There is much comment in the media about Al Swealmeen and it is clear that he was known to many people. We continue to appeal for people who knew him, especially those who associated with him this year as we try and piece together the events leading up to this incident and the reasons for it.

“At this time we are not finding any link to others in the Merseyside area of concern but this remains a fast moving investigation and as more becomes known we cannot rule out action against others.”

Earlier, Home Secretary Priti Patel claimed that Al Swealmeen, who reportedly arrived in the UK from the Middle East in 2014 and had an application for asylum rejected the following year, had been able to exploit Britain’s “dysfunctional” immigration system by staying in the country.

She said the system was a “complete merry-go-round” with a “whole industry” devoted to defending the rights of individuals intent on causing harm.

Christian convert Al Swealmeen died in the blast in a taxi outside Liverpool Women’s Hospital shortly before 11am on Remembrance Sunday.

Concerns have been raised that some asylum seekers in the city may have pretended to convert to Christianity in order to bolster their visa applications.

Liverpool Cathedral, where Al Swealmeen was baptised in 2015 and confirmed in 2017, said that asylum seekers who convert would be expected to be “closely connected” with the congregation for at least two years before staff would support a visa application.

A spokesman said: “Liverpool Cathedral has developed robust processes for discerning whether someone might be expressing a genuine commitment to faith.

“These include requirements for regular attendance alongside taking part in a recognised Christian basics course. We would expect someone to be closely connected with the community for at least two years before we would consider supporting an application.”

According to newspaper reports, Ms Patel told reporters on her flight to the US capital that the case showed why the Government was right to reform the asylum system.

“The case in Liverpool was a complete reflection of how dysfunctional, how broken, the system has been in the past, and why I want to bring changes forward,” she was quoted as saying.

“It’s a complete merry-go-round and it has been exploited. A whole sort of professional legal services industry has based itself on rights of appeal, going to the courts day-in day-out at the expense of the taxpayers through legal aid. That is effectively what we need to change.”

A couple who took in Al Swealmeen after his appeal against the asylum ruling was rejected insisted that he had been an “absolutely genuine” Christian with a “real passion for Jesus Christ”.

Malcolm and Elizabeth Hitchcott said they had been contacted by Al Swealmeen, who also used the name Enzo Almeni, in 2017 when he was “desperate” for somewhere to stay.

Mr Hitchcott told BBC Radio Merseyside: “He arrived here on April 1 2017. He was with us then for eight months, and during that time we saw him really blossoming in regards to his Christian faith.

“He really had a passion about Jesus that I wish many Christians had, and he was ready to learn.

“He was keen on reading his Bible and every night we used to pray – my wife and him, and if there was anybody else in the house – we prayed for half an hour or so and studied the scriptures.

“He was absolutely genuine, as far as I could tell. I was in no doubt by the time that he left us at the end of that eight months that he was a Christian.”

It is understood however that an Islamist plot is one line of inquiry being considered by police, although investigators are keeping an open mind and the motivation is yet to be established.

Official sources told the PA news agency the current understanding is still that the hospital was the intended target.

The inquiry is examining, among other possibilities, whether the main charge on the device failed to explode and if the homemade explosive TATP was used.

Searches have been carried out at the property in Rutland Avenue that had been rented since April by Al Swealmeen, and a second property in Sutcliffe Street, where officers believe he previously lived.

The incident has been declared a terrorist attack and the UK terror threat level has since been raised from substantial to severe, meaning an attack is “highly likely” rather than “likely”.

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Categories: Asylum, Christianity, Emad Al Swealmeen, Liverpool bomber

Liverpool attacker had been buying bomb parts ‘at least since April’

November 17, 2021 Article

The Liverpool bomber had been buying bomb components since at least April, police have revealed.

Assistant Chief Constable Russ Jackson said that Iraq-born Emad Al Swealmeen had rented a property in Liverpool seven months ago and had started making “relevant purchases” for his homemade bomb “at least” since that time.

In an update issued on Wednesday he said: “A complex picture is emerging over the purchases of the component parts of the device, we know that Al Swealmeen rented the property from April this year and we believe relevant purchases have been made at least since that time.

“We have now traced a next of kin for Al Swealmeen who has informed us that he was born in Iraq.”

He also said that the 32-year-old asylum seeker had suffered from periods of mental illness that will “form part of the investigation and will take some time to fully understand”.

Mr Jackson added: “There is much comment in the media about Al Swealmeen and it is clear that he was known to many people. We continue to appeal for people who knew him, especially those who associated with him this year as we try and piece together the events leading up to this incident and the reasons for it.

“At this time we are not finding any link to others in the Merseyside area of concern but this remains a fast moving investigation and as more becomes known we cannot rule out action against others.”

Earlier, Home Secretary Priti Patel claimed that Al Swealmeen, who reportedly arrived in the UK from the Middle East in 2014 and had an application for asylum rejected the following year, had been able to exploit Britain’s “dysfunctional” immigration system by staying in the country.

She said the system was a “complete merry-go-round” with a “whole industry” devoted to defending the rights of individuals intent on causing harm.

Christian convert Al Swealmeen died in the blast in a taxi outside Liverpool Women’s Hospital shortly before 11am on Remembrance Sunday.

Concerns have been raised that some asylum seekers in the city may have pretended to convert to Christianity in order to bolster their visa applications.

Liverpool Cathedral, where Al Swealmeen was baptised in 2015 and confirmed in 2017, said that asylum seekers who convert would be expected to be “closely connected” with the congregation for at least two years before staff would support a visa application.

A spokesman said: “Liverpool Cathedral has developed robust processes for discerning whether someone might be expressing a genuine commitment to faith.

“These include requirements for regular attendance alongside taking part in a recognised Christian basics course. We would expect someone to be closely connected with the community for at least two years before we would consider supporting an application.”

According to newspaper reports, Ms Patel told reporters on her flight to the US capital that the case showed why the Government was right to reform the asylum system.

“The case in Liverpool was a complete reflection of how dysfunctional, how broken, the system has been in the past, and why I want to bring changes forward,” she was quoted as saying.

“It’s a complete merry-go-round and it has been exploited. A whole sort of professional legal services industry has based itself on rights of appeal, going to the courts day-in day-out at the expense of the taxpayers through legal aid. That is effectively what we need to change.”

A couple who took in Al Swealmeen after his appeal against the asylum ruling was rejected insisted that he had been an “absolutely genuine” Christian with a “real passion for Jesus Christ”.

Malcolm and Elizabeth Hitchcott said they had been contacted by Al Swealmeen, who also used the name Enzo Almeni, in 2017 when he was “desperate” for somewhere to stay.

Mr Hitchcott told BBC Radio Merseyside: “He arrived here on April 1 2017. He was with us then for eight months, and during that time we saw him really blossoming in regards to his Christian faith.

“He really had a passion about Jesus that I wish many Christians had, and he was ready to learn.

“He was keen on reading his Bible and every night we used to pray – my wife and him, and if there was anybody else in the house – we prayed for half an hour or so and studied the scriptures.

“He was absolutely genuine, as far as I could tell. I was in no doubt by the time that he left us at the end of that eight months that he was a Christian.”

It is understood however that an Islamist plot is one line of inquiry being considered by police, although investigators are keeping an open mind and the motivation is yet to be established.

Official sources told the PA news agency the current understanding is still that the hospital was the intended target.

The inquiry is examining, among other possibilities, whether the main charge on the device failed to explode and if the homemade explosive TATP was used.

Searches have been carried out at the property in Rutland Avenue that had been rented since April by Al Swealmeen, and a second property in Sutcliffe Street, where officers believe he previously lived.

The incident has been declared a terrorist attack and the UK terror threat level has since been raised from substantial to severe, meaning an attack is “highly likely” rather than “likely”.

The post Liverpool attacker had been buying bomb parts ‘at least since April’ appeared first on Faith Matters.

Categories: Asylum, Christianity, Emad Al Swealmeen, Liverpool bomber