Liverpool bomb: Device contained shrapnel and may have detonated early

Emad Al Swealmeen’s homemade bomb that detonated outside Liverpool Women’s Hospital on Remembrance Sunday contained ball bearings that could have caused "significant injury or death".

Counter-terrorism police believe the device may have detonated “completely unintentionally” when it exploded shortly before 11:00 in the taxi Al Swealmeen was travelling in.

The 32-year-old Christian convert was the only fatality from the incident as driver David Perry escaped moments before his taxi was engulfed in flames.

Assistant Chief Constable Russ Jackson, Head of Counter Terrorism Police North West, said: “Had it detonated in different circumstances we believe it would have caused significant injury or death.”

He added that the bomb may have been triggered by the movement of the car of by it coming to a stop.

How the bomb was made and why it detonated

Emad Al Swealmeen had started making “relevant purchases” for his homemade bomb in April after renting a property in Rutland Avenue, were bomb-making parts and “significant items” were recovered by police.

ACC Jackson said on Friday that the device contained “homemade explosive and had ball bearings attached to it which would have acted as shrapnel”.

He added: “We still do not know how or why the device exploded when it did, but we are not discounting it being completely unintentional, and it is a possibility that the movement of the vehicle or its stopping caused the ignition.

“We are spending considerable time seeking to understand the way the purchases for the ingredients to make the device were made. This is complicated because purchases have spanned many months and Al Swealmeen has used many aliases.

“We are confident however that in time we will get a full picture of what purchases were made and how, and if anyone else was involved or knew what Al Swealmeen was up to.”

Al Swealmeen’s family contacted

Police tracked down the brother of Iraq-born Asylum seeker Al Swealmeen and spoke to him on Thursday evening.

ACC Jackson said the interview had given officers “an insight into his early years and an understanding of Al Swealmeen’s life and his recent state of mind, which is an important line of investigation”.

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 Sunday’s explosion.

He arrived in the UK in 2014 and had repeated appeals to stay in the country turned down.

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.

No connection to Manchester bombing

There had been conjecture that there may have been a link between the Manchester bomb in in 2017 and Sunday’s incident in Liverpool, but ACC Jackson said no evidence had been found to substantiate this.

He said: “We have found no connection between this incident and the terrible events of Manchester in May 2017. The device was also different to the one used in the Manchester Arena attack.

“The investigation is still moving at a very fast pace and will continue into the weekend and the coming weeks.”