A woman who suspected her neighbours of stockpiling too much fertiliser helped prevent a terrorist attack.
The woman, who has chosen to speak on the condition of anonymity, explained how she felt compelled to tell police about her suspicions when she noticed the men storing 600kg of ammonium in their allotment in Hanwell, London.
Despite initially feeling silly and fearing she may implicate an innocent man she slowly began to realise that the quantities weer too vast for simple gardening.
Speaking to PlayBuzz, she explained:
He’d said it was for his allotment, but 600 kilograms of it? It seemed like a lot just for someone’s garden.
The police investigated, and it turned out that the guy had been planning attacks with a group of other people. They were days away from planting the bombs, and my actions saved lives, the police said.
The woman’s suspicions began when er boyfriend made an off hand comment about terrorists making bombs from fertiliser.
Five men, Omar Khyam, Jawad Akbar, Salahuddin Amin, Waheed Mahmood and Anthony Garcia, were jailed following the woman’s actions and the jude claimed that the British men had betrayed their country
Police are now encouraging more members of the public to report suspicious activity as anonymous tip-offs are the backbone of police investigations into terrorism.
Assistant Commissioner Mark Rowley, the UK’s most senior counter terrorism officer, has launched a new ‘Action Counters Terrorism‘, or ‘ACT’, campaign.
Mr Rowley says:
It is very encouraging that in a third of cases involving our most serious terrorist suspects we have benefited from information from the public.
The number of calls and online reports we receive is increasing. This is testament to people’s trust in the police – but now we are appealing for even more.
Counter terrorism policing is working hard to keep the public safe. Together, the UK intelligence community (MI5, SIS, GCHQ) and police have disrupted 13 UK terrorist attack plots since June 2013.
If you’ve seen anything you think isn’t quite right you can give a police specialist a ring on 0800 789 321.
More of a concept than a journalist, Tom Percival was forged in the bowels of Salford University from which he emerged grasping a Masters in journalism.
Since then his rise has been described by himself as ‘meteoric’ rising to the esteemed rank of Social Editor at UNILAD as well as working at the BBC, Manchester Evening News, and ITV.
He credits his success to three core techniques, name repetition, personality mirroring, and never breaking off a handshake.