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The Independent UK
The Independent UK
National
Lizzie Dearden

Parsons Green bomber Ahmed Hassan jailed for life with minimum term of 34 years for terror attack

The Parsons Green bomber has been jailed for life with a minimum term of 34 years for launching a terror attack on the London Underground.

A judge said Ahmed Hassan, aged between 18 and 21, failed to cause the "carnage" he desired when his device malfunctioned but remains a danger to the public.

"You have violated the Quran and Islam with your actions, as well as the law of all civilised people," he told the teenager. "It is hoped that you will recognise this one day."

​Hassan did not react has he was sentenced and stayed silent in the dock, as his victims and their loved ones looked on from the public gallery.

Mr Justice Haddon-Cave told the Old Bailey Hassan had been driven by a "mindset of Isis extremism" as well as a hatred of Britain and America, who he blamed for the death of his father in Iraq.

The teenager lied about his age when he arrived in the UK on the back of a lorry from Calais in order to gain the "special privileges" afforded to child asylum seekers, he added.

Hassan originally told immigration officials he had been "trained to kill" in an Isis training camp in his home country, but while giving evidence in the dock he claimed it was a made-up story to help him gain asylum.

Mr Justice Haddon-Cave ruled that his initial account was true, and that he had told other people of his experiences, while being caught watching Isis videos and listening to extremist nasheeds.

"You led a double life," he told Hassan, describing how he appeared to be a model asylum seeker and student but harboured dark intentions.

The judge said Hassan "wanted to save his skin" by setting the bomb to explode on a timer after he got off the District Line on 15 September.

The teenager destroyed his phone memory card, wiped his laptop and changed clothes four times while travelling towards Dover to make his escape, but was recognised and arrested by police at the port.

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