Parsons Green attack: Foster parents of man held over Tube bomb 'shell-shocked and unable to sleep', says son

The foster parents of the prime suspect in the Parsons Green terror attack have suffered indignity, shell-shock and loss of sleep, their son has said.

Spencer Jones said the home of his mother Penelope, 71, and father Ronald Jones, 88, in Sunbury, was a "place of love and tolerance".

But it has been under inspection by forensic officers for the past week as part of the probe into attempts to detonate a home-made bomb packed with shrapnel on a busy District Line Tube train on September 15.

Mr Jones said: "It's hard to believe that two people who have done so much have to suffer the indignity of having their lives dissected.

"My parents have worked tirelessly for the benefit of other people's children who are in need."

The couple, awarded MBEs for services to children and families, have fostered nearly 300 children together.

Mr Jones said his mother was previously threatened with knives by her foster children's birth parents, and stood in front of a bulldozer to try to save a cherished community building.

He added: "She just keeps telling me she's shell-shocked. She hasn't been sleeping.

"But this won't break mum. She's too strong and practical."

18-year-old Ahmed Hassan on Friday appeared before magistrates accused of attempting to kill Londoners with an improvised explosive device hidden in a bucket inside a Lidl carrier bag.

Witnesses told how a fireball erupted inside the carriage leaving 30 people injured, including one woman with serious burns.

In an interview with the Mail on Sunday, the couple's 45-year-old son described the impact the investigation has had on the couple.

Mr Jones has now urged the couple, who have been staying with friends since their home was raided by police last Saturday, to give up fostering for good.

He told the Mail on Sunday: "Knowing what mum and dad are like, I wouldn't be surprised if they take a respite and then start again."

Hassan, of Cavendish Road, Sunbury, in Surrey, was arrested at the port of Dover by counter-terrorism officers a day after the attack. He is next due at the Old Bailey on October 13.