Hospital worker 'plotting to explode homemade bomb in cafe full of nurses ... trends now
A sickly patient who managed to talk a would-be bomber out of detonating homemade explosives in a hospital told police that he 'seemed like a nice guy deep down', a court has heard.
Mohammed Farooq, 28, was arrested outside St James' Hospital, Leeds, in the early hours of January 20 after police were called by a man called Nathan Newby, who was being treated for a lung infection at the time.
Sheffield Crown Court has heard Farooq, a former clinical support worker at the hospital, had a viable pressure cooker bomb with him and had planned to explode it in a café full of nurses.
On Wednesday jurors heard a recording of a call between a tactical firearms officer and Mr Newby, who started talking to Farooq after spotting him 'looking upset' outside the hospital's Gledhow Wing.
Asked if Farooq seemed like he was suffering with mental health issues, Mr Newby said: 'Yeah, he actually does seem like a nice guy.
Mohammed Farooq, 28, was arrested outside St James's Hospital, Leeds, in the early hours of January 20
Nathan Newby (pictured) said he was able to talk him out of blowing up the hospital by chatting with him for hours
'He seems like a nice guy deep down if you know what I mean', Nathan Newby said of Mohammed Farooq (pictured)
'He doesn't seem, like, aggressive or owt like that. He seems like a nice guy deep down if you know what I mean.'
Mr Newby also told the officer Farooq was the one who had told him to ring the police.
He said Farooq had a bomb 'like a stove' and what looked like a pistol, which later turned out to be an imitation.
Asked by the officer if Farooq had said what his intentions were, Mr Newby replied: 'He has said that he's gonna... he was going to kill quite a few of them.'
In a transcript of a conversation between the two men heard on the call, which was read in court, Mr Newby could be heard asking Farooq why he thought 'that's the right way to do it'.
