An Islamic State fanatic convicted of trying to make an improvised bomb using fairy lights for a potential attack on Midland trains has been jailed for life.
Zahid Hussain, 29, considered targeting railway lines after he was radicalised in his bedroom by viewing hundreds of IS images of the war in Syria.
The former doorman, aged 29, was sentenced at Winchester Crown Court today after being found guilty of Preparing for Acts of Terrorism at an earlier trial.
He will serve a minimum of 15 years but will remain on licence for a further 30 years.
Officers searched Hussain’s home after he was arrested in August 2015, when he was stopped in Alum Rock and found to be in possession of a knife and crowbar and hand written notes detailing instructions for devices.
At his flat, they discovered he had constructed a home-made pressure cooker device, filled with shrapnel and adapted Christmas tree lights in an attempt to construct an improvised explosive device (IED).
Police also seized dismantled mobile phones and bottle of hydrogen peroxide, together with text books detailing guerrilla warfare techniques and small arms combat and further dismantled electrical items including alarm clocks and doorbell chimes.
Hussain was re-arrested on suspicion of terrorism-related matters and charged with preparing for acts of terrorism, contrary to Section 5 of the Terrorism Act 2006.
Following an examination by medical staff, Hussain was sectioned and detained under the Mental Health Act and remains under the care of mental health professionals. Following a hearing in January 2016 he was declared fit to stand.
His trial at Birmingham Crown Court was told how he wrongly believed his non-viable “bomb” - packed with shrapnel - was capable of causing devastation. It also heard how Hussain attempted to create a remote-control “initiator” for a device by modifying a wireless doorbell.
Hussain, who was captured on CCTV clambering into a storm drain near a high-speed railway line, was arrested in August 2015 after being seen “patrolling” the streets near his home.
