On Tuesday, a man from the UK was convicted of planning to attack a military base.
According to the Crown Prosecution Service in the UK, Mohammad Farooq was arrested after he was found with an explosive device while on the grounds of a hospital. In the northern section of England, he was found guilty of preparing acts of terrorism, after he went on trial at the Sheffield Crown Court.
Farooq, who is 28 years old, had pleaded guilty to possessing an explosive substance with the intent to danger life, as well as possession of information likely to be useful to a terrorist and possession of an explosive substance in suspicious circumstances.
According to the CPS, authorities arrested Farooq outside of Leeds’ St. James’ Hospital. He had once worked there as a student nurse
Police were tipped off about him because he allegedly showed someone outside that he had a gun and said he “felt like killing everyone.”
The patient who saw him moved Farooq away from the building, then talked him down from doing what he said he wanted to do, and eventually called police, the BBC reported.
Officers who arrived at the scene discovered that Farooq had a bag that contained a pressure cooker with some wires attached to it. Later, experts in bomb disposal concluded that the explosive device was actually viable.
The CPS further said that when they searched through some electronic devices that Farooq had, they discovered other evidence that he was interested in radical Islamist ideology. He also had done research on RAF Menwith Hill, which is a Royal Air Force base that is located near the hospital in North Yorkshire.
Originally, Farooq had pleaded not guilty. However, at trial, he was convicted of preparing a terrorist attack at RAF Menwith Hill, His sentencing will come at a later date, according to officials.
In a statement, the CPS Counter Terrorism Division’s head, Bethan David, said:
“Farooq is an extremely dangerous individual who amassed a significant amount of practical and theoretical information that enabled him to produce a viable explosive device. He then took that homemade explosive device to a hospital where he worked with the intention to cause serious harm.
“Examination of his electronic devices revealed a hatred towards his colleagues at work and those he considered non-believers. It is clear from his internet searches that he was also conducting extensive research of RAF Menwith Hill, with a view to launching a potential attack.”
The conviction of Farooq was a unanimous decision by jurors.
At the trial, jurors were told that the first target for Farooq was RAF Menwith Hill, which is a spy base that’s jointly operated by staff from the UK and the U.S.
He ultimately didn’t think such an attack was possible, though, so he switched to a “softer and less well-protected target,” which was his former employer.
The bomb he was carrying was designed to be twice as powerful as the ones used in the Boston Marathon bombing back in 2013.
