Man who took pressure cooker bomb into hospital jailed for life

A man who took a viable pressure cooker bomb into a hospital in Leeds intending to "kill as many nurses as possible" has been jailed for life.

Mohammad Farooq was sentenced to a minimum term of 37 years at Sheffield Crown Court on Friday.

Farooq, who was a trainee nurse, was found guilty after his trial last year of attempting to launch an Islamic State-inspired suicide attack using a homemade bomb on the hospital where he worked in 2023.

He was also jailed for plotting to attack RAF Mentwith Hill in North Yorkshire.

Sentencing Farooq, Mrs Justice Cheema-Grubb praised the actions of Nathan Newby, the patient who talked him out of exploding his homemade device.

The device would have been twice as powerful as those used by the 2013 Boston Marathon bombers.

The judge said: "He's an extraordinary, ordinary man whose decency and kindness on 20 January 2023 prevented an atrocity in a maternity wing of a major British hospital."

She said Mr Newby is a "modest and gentle man whose evidence was among the most remarkable this court has ever heard".

The jury heard how the clinical support worker was inspired by Islamic State propaganda to procure weapons and manufacture an explosive device in readiness for an attack.

Farooq was arrested outside the maternity ward of St James's Hospital after revealing a gun and saying that he "felt like killing everyone".

Police arrived and discovered the bomb. A semi-automatic pistol, discovered to be an imitation, was found nearby.

Farooq's car contained a floorplan of four different hospital wards, nails, a knife and five plastic tubs containing a low explosive mixture.

'Plan B'

Farooq originally intended to target the military base, with the hospital being his "Plan B" after he failed to get in to the base due to high security.

Online searches of RAF Menwith Hill were also made by Farooq and location data extracted from his phone revealed he was in the vicinity of the base on two occasions. He denied this was for any terrorist purpose but prosecutors proved his interest went beyond internet research.

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Bethan David, head of the Crown Prosecution Service Counter Terrorism Division, said: "Farooq is an extremely dangerous individual who amassed a significant amount of practical and theoretical information that enabled him to produce a viable explosive device."

"He then took that homemade explosive device to a hospital where he worked with the intention to cause serious harm. Examination of his electronic devices revealed a hatred towards his colleagues at work and those he considered non-believers.

"It is clear from his internet searches that he was also conducting extensive research of RAF Menwith Hill, with a view to launching a potential attack."

(c) Sky News 2025: Man who took pressure cooker bomb into hospital jailed for life