In January 2023, Mohammad Sohail Farooq, 28, was apprehended in front of Leeds’ St James’s Hospital with a workable bomb that he had made using a pressure cooker and 9.9 kg of low explosive.
Other things that were discovered on him or in his car included two knives, black tape, and a fake gun that had blank ammunition in it.
According to Sheffield Crown Court, he visited the location to “seek his own martyrdom” by carrying out a “murderous terrorist attack” and immersed himself in “extremist Islamic ideology.”
However, a “simple act of kindness” from a hospital patient who struck up a conversation with him foiled his plan.
After less than two hours of deliberation, a jury found him guilty on Tuesday.
Authorities discovered that Farooq had viewed antisemitic films on TikTok and had taken a phone photo of a plaque commemorating the hospital’s Jewish heritage.
Investigations also showed that, after being forced to redo a year of his degree due to persistent absences and failing the necessary tests, he had been conducting a covert poison pen campaign against a number of colleagues.
