Convert facing nail bomb sentence

5:38am Friday 21st November 2008

A Muslim convert who tried to kill dozens of people in a suicide nail bomb attack at a family restaurant is set to be sentenced

Nicky Reilly, 22, faces a long jail term at the Old Bailey after he admitted attempted murder and preparing a terrorist attack.

Dozens of customers at the Giraffe restaurant in Exeter fled in panic after the bomb partially exploded in the toilets on May 22.

Reilly intended to run out into the packed dining area clutching the caustic soda bottle bomb to his stomach, the court heard.

But the child-like man, who has a history of mental illness, could not open the toilet cubicle door in the seconds after he set the bomb to explode.

The delay caused the volatile nail-filled device to detonate in his hands, leaving him badly injured.

Reilly, of King Street, Plymouth, converted to Islam about five years ago and will appear in court under the name Mohammad Rashid Saeed Alim.

Police said he was encouraged and helped by at least two untraced Islamic extremists who contacted him via his YouTube webpage.

Reilly also considered bombing Charles Cross Police Station, Plymouth's Drake Circus shopping centre and Devonport Dockyard.

Officers said he also used the internet to research how to make bombs using caustic soda, kerosene and nails. One senior investigator said he worshipped Osama bin Laden and quoted the al Qaida leader in a suicide note left at his home.