Bombing accused ‘worked illegally’

A former Shropshire doctor who is accused of planning bomb attacks in London and Glasgow worked illegally and faced financial problems as he prepared to kill hundreds of people, a jury heard.

Mohammed Asha, who worked at the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital for 12 months, had failed to renew his registration with the General Medical Council just months before he handed over £1,300 to fund the bombings, jurors at Woolwich Crown Court were told.

Opening the prosecution case yesterday, Mr Jonathan Laidlaw QC, said Asha’s money paid for the bomb vehicles which failed to detonate in London and the Jeep driven into Glasgow Airport, along with the potentially lethal equipment including gas, fuel and nails which were packed into the vehicles. 

The 28-year-old doctor who trained in Shropshire to fullfil his dream of becoming a brain surgeon was the first and only person the other two bombers called after the failed attacks in London last year, the court heard. 

The jury heard how Asha was in constant communication with his co-accused Bilal Abdulla within hours of the two attacks in London.

Asha, of Newcastle-under-Lyme, and 29-year-old Abdulla, of Houston, Glasgow, deny conspiracy to murder between January 1, 2006 and July 1, 2007 and also conspiracy to cause explosions likely to endanger life.

The case continues

For the full story, see today’s Shropshire Star