02/10/23
Liverpool bomber carried out attack outside women's hospital because of 'grievance against the British state for failing to accept his asylum claim and poor mental health', police probe finds
A man who detonated a bomb outside a hospital had a grievance against the British state because his asylum claim was rejected, a police investigation has found.
Emad Al Swealmeen, 32, detonated the device, which he had made himself, while in a taxi outside Liverpool Women's Hospital just before 11am on November 14 2021.
Driver David Perry managed to escape from the Ford Focus taxi following the blast, which killed Al Swealmeen.
The explosion, captured on hospital CCTV, propelled ball bearings forward through the vehicle to the extent the front windscreen was forced out and travelled 16 metres, where it hit a tree, and damage was caused to the windows of the hospital building.
Detective Superintendent Andy Meeks, of Counter Terrorism Policing North West, told a briefing on Monday it was believed Al Swealmeen intended to go into the hospital and detonate the device, but it was likely that it exploded earlier than planned.
He said there was no evidence anyone else was involved in the attack.
A police report on the investigation said there was no evidence Al Swealmeen held extremist views.
It said: "It seems most likely that Al Swealmeen's grievance against the British state for failing to accept his asylum claim compounded his mental ill health which in turn fed that grievance and ultimately a combination of those factors led him to undertake the attack."
Mr Meeks said Al Swealmeen, who was born in Iraq, went to considerable lengths to stay in the country, including converting to Christianity, although the authenticity of his conversion was in doubt.
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