Iraqi teenager appears in court accused of Parsons Green bombing

An 18-year-old Iraqi orphan appeared in court on Friday accused of planting the bomb that half-exploded on a rush-hour London tube train, injuring 30 people.

Ahmed Hassan, an asylum seeker living in Sunbury-on-Thames, Surrey, was charged with attempted murder and with causing an explosion in breach of the Explosive Substances Act.

As Hassan appeared in court, it became clear that while most of those injured in last week’s attack on a District line train in west London escaped serious harm, one woman suffered what police describe as life-changing injuries, having suffered severe burns to her face, hands and legs.

More details of the improvised bomb are now known. It appears to have been constructed with a quantity of hydrogen peroxide and sulphuric acid that was purchased last month on Amazon.

Both Hassan’s parents are said to have been killed in Iraq, where he is said to have been detained and tortured.

Hassan is understood to have entered the UK two years ago and was claiming asylum while living with two foster parents in Sunbury.

He was arrested in the departure lounge at Dover’s ferry port last Saturday morning, before he could board a ferry to France.

During a 20-minute hearing at Westminster magistrates court on Friday, Hassan appeared in the dock in a grey sweater, and surrounded by security guards and a detective. He spoke only to confirm his name, date of birth and address.

He was remanded in custody and is due to appear at the Old Bailey on 13 October.

The attempted bombing was the fifth terrorist attack in the UK in less than six months. The bomb had been constructed inside a plastic bucket which had been placed inside a Lidl supermarket carrier bag and covered with a pair of trousers.

It was then placed in the rear carriage of the train. Its initiating charge appears to have detonated while the train was stationary with its doors open, having just pulled into Parsons Green station – but the main charge failed to explode.

The device contained triacetone triperoxide, a power unit and timer, and shrapnel, which included broken glass, knives and screws.

Since Hassan’s arrest, police have been searching the house in Sunbury where he lived with foster parents Penelope Jones, 71, and her husband Ronald, 88. In 2009, the couple were awarded MBEs in recognition of their services to children and families. They have been staying with friends while their home is being searched.

Before moving in with the couple, Hassan had been living at a hostel for homeless young people in Epsom, Surrey.

Police also arrested three people and searched two homes in Newport, south Wales, and arrested a 17-year-old in Thornton Heath, south London.

The teenager and two men aged 25 and 30, remain in custody. Two men aged 21 and 48 were released without charge on Thursday.