'ISIS Inspired' Student Leaves Bomb on London Train Then Casually Goes Back to School
A weapons-obsessed teenager who is on trial for planting a bomb on a London tube train last year told the court it was a prank. Damon Smith, now 20, admitted perpetrating a bomb hoax but denied making or possessing an explosive substance with intent to endanger lives.
On Oct. 20, 2016, Smith allegedly carried a backpack containing explosives and deadly ball-bearing shrapnel attached to a clock. Video footage taken by security cameras showed him with the bag propped against a seat on a Jubilee line train before casually walking back to school at 10:49 a.m.
The bomb was timed to go off at 11:02 a.m. but somehow failed. The train had 10 passengers that time. When he got home later that afternoon, Smith, who was diagnosed with Asperger's syndrome, which is a form of autism, searched for articles about a bomb explosion in central London.
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He was arrested 12:25 p.m. the next day but claimed the device was meant to spew harmless smoke as a prank, according to Daily Mail. A search of his home in Rotherhithe, south London yielded ball bearings similar to those in the explosive device, wire, matches, glue, circuit boards and craft knives.
Also found were a brass knuckle, a receipt for a £2 wall clock, a Koran, Islamic books and leaflets as well as a blank-firing self-loading pistol and a BB gun that were bought legally. There were also photos of him with guns while his laptop bore a label that read, "2016 an Islamic fighter."
Scrutiny of Smith's online activities showed more interest in Islam. He printed an al Qaeda article titled "Make a Bomb in the Kitchen of Your Mom" and made notes. He collected photos of extremists including the mastermind of the 2015 Paris terror attacks.
His iPad contained a shopping list for "pressure cooker bomb materials" with a note that stated, "Keep this a secret between me and Allah #InspireTheBelievers." He also searched the internet for an Islamic State magazine featuring an article about a bomb that brought down a Russian airline in October 2015.
