Liverpool bomb: attacker buying parts for device that exploded outside a hospital ‘since at least April’

Liverpool bomber Emad Al Swealmeen had been planning his Remembrance Day attack in the city since at least April, according to police.

Assistant Chief Constable Russ Jackson, head of Counter Terrorism Policing North West, said Iraq-born Emad Al Swealmeen had rented a property in Liverpool seven months ago.

He added that the 32-year-old asylum seeker had started making “relevant purchases” for his homemade bomb “at least” since that time.

Al Swealmeen had previously been sectioned under the Mental Health Act and had received treatment at Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust, but was not under their care at the time of the explosion.

Assistant Chief Constable Jackson confirmed that the bomber’s periods of mental illness will “form part of the investigation and will take some time to fully understand”.

Al Swealmeen launched a fresh appeal to stay in the UK in January having already been refused asylum a number of times, according to the BBC.

His latest submissions were under review at the time of his death.

Al Swealmeen had lived at the Sutcliffe Street address raided by police in the wake of Sunday’s car explosion for some time.

He had recently rented another address on Rutland Avenue, were bomb-making parts and “significant items” were recovered by police.

On Wednesday afternoon, the police cordon around Sutcliffe Street was temporarily extended after several suspicious packages were found and inspected by Explosive Ordinance Disposal before being handed to police.

Counter Terrorism Police North West warned bomb disposal teams may be seen on site on Thursday, but said “their presence will again be solely out of caution in case further items are found.”

The main focus remains at the Rutland Avenue address.

Counter terrorism police: “a complex picture is emerging”

In an update issued on Wednesday, ACC Jackson said: “The investigation into the terrorist incident at Liverpool Women’s Hospital on Sunday 14 November continues. The taxi in which the device exploded has now been removed.

“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.

“Our enquiries have found that Al Swealmeen has had episodes of mental illness, this will form part of the investigation and will take some time to fully understand.

“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.”

What do we know about the bomber?

Christian convert Al Swealmeen died in the blast in a taxi outside Liverpool Women’s Hospital shortly before 11:00 on Remembrance Sunday.

Born in Iraq, he arrived in the UK in 2014 as an asylum seeker. Counter terrorism police have traced one of his relatives and are due to interview them.

According to court records acquired by the BBC, Al Swealmeen was first refused asylum in the year he arrived and also lost further appeals in 2015.

He attempted to launch a fresh legal appeal to stay in the UK under the name Enzo Almeni in January before he began making purchases for in April for his attack.

His submissions were under review at the time of his death and it remains unclear why it was unresolved. It is also unknown at this point if the Home Office ever tried to remove him from the UK after his first failed application.

Al Swealmeen converted to Christianity at Liverpool Cathedral, where he was baptised in 2015 and confirmed in 2017.

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.

However, a couple who took in Al Swealmeen after an asylum claim appeal was rejected, insisted that he had been an “absolutely genuine” Christian with a “real passion for Jesus Christ”.

Malcolm Hitchcott, who was in the army for 25 years and worked as a Eucharistic Lay Minister and Assistant Leader of the Iranian Ministry at the cathedral, and his wife Elizabeth took Al Swealmeen into their home in 2017 and he lived with them for eight months.

“We were living cheek by jowl. There was never any suggestion of anything amiss,” Mr Hitchcott told ITV News.

The couple said Al Swealmeen had taken a cake decorating course and was obsessed with motor racing. He had changed his name to Enzo after Enzo Ferrari, the founder of car company Ferrari.

Mr Hitchcott also said that Al Swealmeen had previously been sectioned under the Mental Health Act and spent around six months in a “mental institution” after being involved in an incident in the centre of Liverpool which “involved a bridge and a knife.”

Court tribunal papers from a 2015 appeal by an Iranian asylum seeker who was seeking refugee status in the UK show he was supported by Mr Hitchcott.

The papers state that Mr Hitchcott scrutinised the behaviour of worshippers, watching how they behaved outside formal services and meetings and if this was found to be ‘incongruous with their claim to be Christians’ he would not support their asylum claims.

Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust have confirmed that Al Swealmeen was treated by them for mental issues at one time, but was not under their care at the time of the explosion.

The bomber had lived at the Sutcliffe Street address raided by police in the wake of Sunday’s car explosion for some time.

He had recently rented another address on Rutland Avenue, were bomb-making parts and “significant items” were recovered by police.

Al Swealmeen was picked up by a taxi from Rutland Avenue, where he is believed to have constructed his homemade explosive device, and driven the ten minutes to Liverpool Women’s Hospital where the bomb exploded.

Hospital believed to be intended target

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”.