Tube bomb plot: Student who left homemade device packed with ball bearings on train jailed for 15 years

A student who planted a homemade nail bomb on a Tube train has been jailed for 15 years.

Damon Smith, 20, packed explosives and ball bearings into the device which was left in a backpack on a Jubilee Line train on 20 October 2016. He claimed in court that it was a Halloween prank but was found guilty of possession of an explosive substance with intent following a trial at the Old Bailey.

The former altar boy built the device at home with a £2 clock from Tesco.

Smith had an interest in Islam but was not motivated by terrorism, Judge Richard Marks QC said. He told the defendant: "Quite what your motives were and what your true thinking was in acting as you did is difficult to discern with any degree of clarity or certainty.

"Whatever the position, the seriousness of what you did cannot be overstated, not least against the background of the fear in which we all live from the use of bombs here and around the world, an all too timely reminder of which were the events in Manchester earlier this week."

On the morning of incident, Smith, then aged 19, was caught on CCTV as he travelled by Tube to college in Holloway, north London. He was seen reading a text book before getting off and leaving the bomb on the floor, timed to go off minutes later.

Around 10 passengers were in the carriage at the time and some of them spotted the abandoned rucksack and alerted the driver. The driver, believing it to be lost property, took it into his cab and carried on towards North Greenwich. But during the journey, he spotted wires coming out of the bag and raised the alarm as he pulled into the station.

Had the bomb worked, it would have exploded just as commuters were being ordered off the platform, the jury heard.

The defendant went on to college and, on returning home in the evening, checked the internet for news of what he had done.

Smith told police he was interested in Islam but denied being an extremist even though he posed next to an image of the Brussels-born Islamic terrorist alleged to have masterminded the attacks in Paris in November 2015.

In his defence, extracts of a psychiatric report were read out confirming an autism spectrum disorder. He had been interested in bomb-making since the age of 10 and said it was "something to do when he was bored".

Smith, who grew up living with his mother in Newton Abbot, Devon, said he had thought about putting a bomb in a park but decided it would be "more funny" to delay train passengers.

Commander Dean Haydon, head of the Met's Counter Terrorism Command, said: “We have seen this week the horrifying impact a bomb can have. And whilst there is no connection between Manchester and Greenwich it brings into stark reality just how devastating it could have been.

"The bomb Smith made was a viable device, but it failed to detonate, which was our good fortune.

“I would like to praise the public who informed the train driver of the abandoned bag; because of their quick intervention we were able to make it safe and identify Smith.

“At this time of heightened security we ask everyone to remain calm but alert, to report anything that causes concern immediately; if you have suspicions about someone's behaviour call police.”

Additional reporting PA