Manchester airport pipe bomb plot man found guilty

A man has been found guilty of trying to smuggle a pipe bomb onto a plane at Manchester airport. The device was found in Nadeem Muhammad’s carry-on luggage as he went through security on 30 January 2017. Prosecutors said he intended to detonate the device on a Ryanair flight to Italy. The 43-year-old, of Tinline Street, was found guilty of possessing explosives with intent to endanger life at Manchester Crown Court. Muhammad was attempting to board the flight when the item was discovered. He told airport officials that someone else had put it in his luggage. The court heard how he was questioned by police but not arrested, and returned to the airport on 5 February and flew to Italy. The device was made from batteries, wire, masking tape and a marker pen tube. It was found to contain nitroglycerin and nitrocellulose. UK officers arrested Muhammad once he arrived back in the country. Sue Hemming, of the Crown Prosecution Service, said that although his motive remains unknown, ‘it is clear that the consequences, had he been successful, could have been disastrous’. He will be sentenced on 23 August.