| 22 May 2008 attempted Exeter bombing | |
|---|---|
A police van guards the Giraffe cafe and restaurant. |
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| Location | Exeter, Devon, England, UK |
| Date | 22 May 2008 12:50 (UTC+1) |
| Target | Princesshay |
| Deaths | 0 |
| Injured | 1 |
The Exeter bombing was a failed attack which happened on 22 May 2008, at the Giraffe cafe and restaurant in Princesshay, Exeter, United Kingdom. Nicky Reilly, 22, a Muslim convert from Plymouth, pleaded guilty to launching a failed suicide attack on 15 October. The bomber was the only person injured.[1]
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The attack took place at 12:50 while the bomber was in a locked cubicle of the restaurant toilets. Witnesses in and around the restaurant report hearing a loud bang. Most dismissed it, thinking the sound had come from a nearby building site. Another witness reported that it "sounded more like gunshots than a bomb, like a lightbulb exploding".[1] Police were immediately called to the scene and the restaurant was evacuated.
After the restaurant was evacuated, police evacuated and cordoned off the immediate area in fear of another device. This cordon was originally confined to the Princesshay area, but was later extended to cover the whole of the city centre, from the bottom of High Street to Sidwell Street. Another device was found in the vicinity of the cafe, but was disabled by a bomb disposal team.[2]
Reilly pled guilty to launching a failed suicide bid at the Giraffe restaurant in Exeter. Information released after his guilty plea reveals Reilly was obsessed with martyrdom and wanted to cause as much death and injury as possible.[9]
The large cordon set up around the bomb site caused considerable disruption. Not only were shops along the High Street shut, but the city's main bus operator Stagecoach Devon had to re-route their buses causing traffic delays. The city's bus station was also evacuated.[11] Many hours after the attack, resulted in the evening of 22 May when the cordon, which had stretched to include Exeter bus station, being reduced and many roads surrounding the shopping centre re-opened.[11] On the Friday, all shops - except the restaurant involved, were re-opened as usual.[12] The incident is estimated to have cost the local economy approximately £2.5 million.[13]
A team of about twenty specialists (including forensic officers, intelligence experts and detectives) from Scotland Yard's Counter Terrorism branch SO15, was brought in to help the Devon and Cornwall Police constabulary with their investigations.[3] Soon after the arrest police began searching at the Muslim Community Centre in St Jude's, Plymouth.[14]
Since the explosion in Exeter a total of four arrests have been made in connection with the incident. Under the Terrorism Act 2006 a person arrested under terrorism can be detained in Police custody for 28 days without being charged.[15]
Nicky Raymond Reilly (now known as Mohamed Abdulaziz Rashid Saeed-Alim), aged 22, was born in Plymouth, where he lived with his mother, Kim. He had previously been detained in a mental health hospital.[16] Since his conversion to Islam and changing his name,[3] he came under the influence of religious extremists,[17] who reportedly radicalised him into detonating a bomb in Exeter.[3][18]
On 3 June, he was charged with three offences, one under the Terrorism Act 2006 and a further two under the Explosive Substances Act 1883. He appeared before magistrates in a secure court in Westminster, London on 4 June, and was remanded in custody.[19]
On Friday 23 May, there was an evacuation of Plymouth city centre in which armed police arrested another person. A second individual was detained and is helping police with their enquiries, but is no longer in police custody[5][20] At 17:30 on 28 May a fourth man was detained for questioning.[14]
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