An obsessed man tried to frame his ex-girlfriend's new partner by planting a home-made bomb in his car. Riyaz Khan's "inconceivable stupidity" caused a major security alert with the army's bomb disposal team becoming involved, Leicester Crown Court was told.
There was a huge response from the emergency services at Huntington Road, Northfields, Leicester, following the alert. The surrounding areas were cordoned off and up to 40 homes were evacuated on the morning of Monday June 4.
It came about because Khan was obsessed with reconciling with his ex-girlfriend and ended up launching a "campaign of stalking" the young woman as well as her father and new partner, who she has since married.
Khan, 27, wanted to frame her partner by planting a home-made incendiary device, made from fireworks, in the partner's car - along with a USB stick containing illegal child pornography and a bomb-making manual. I
t was part of his plan to get the "wholly innocent" man into trouble by making him appear to be a terrorist and a paedophile.
Khan, pleaded guilty to three counts of stalking between March 31 and June 4. He also admitted damaging a car window and attempting to pervert the course of justice.
Stuart Lody, prosecuting, told the court: "The offences arise out of the defendant's inability to accept the breakdown down of his relationship and a desire to harm his former girlfriend's marriage to her new partner and take vengeance upon her family."
He said the defendant first met his ex-girlfriend after setting up a false Facebook account in which he purported to be a teenage girl and through that medium asked her to befriend him.
In due course he revealed his true identity and the victim, described as "young and naive," agreed to go out with him.
Khan also made unwanted and unannounced visits to her workplace, lurked around and generally pestered her when she was at home by constantly phoning and even, late at night, sitting outside her house revving his car engine when she, an early riser, was trying to sleep.
In due course it transpired that his parents, for whatever reason, did not want the two to marry and the defendant then denounced her to her parents. Despite having brought about the end of the relationship the defendant hatched a plan so she would leave her new husband-to-be and run off with him to live "happily ever after."
The court heard that the defendant's ex-girlfriend now feels uncomfortable about going to certain places in Leicester because she is worried about bumping into the defendant or his family.
She could not understand why her father and her "blameless" new husband should have been targeted. Her husband said he was shocked about the bomb incident and concerned about his wife's emotional wellbeing. He said that the defendant's actions had caused his neighbours to now be suspicious about him.
Police Community Neighbourhood Inspector, Paul Allen, said in a statement read out by the prosecutor that the incident had the potential to cause tension in the wider community. He said that extensive cordons were made around the area with a "multi-agency response."
There was "extensive disruption" to traffic and the army bomb disposal unit was deployed.
The army's bomb disposal team were deployed and traffic in the area was disrupted.
Khan was jailed for three years and nine months.
