'Would-be bomber bought wrong nail varnish remover' from Derby Asda, court hears

A would-be bomber bought the wrong type of nail varnish remover to make an explosive, a court has heard.

Munir Mohammed enlisted chemist Rowaida El-Hassan, who he met on a dating website, to help him make a bomb or a deadly ricin poison in December last year, it is alleged.

But he picked up an acetone-free bottle of nail varnish remover, rather than hydrogen peroxide, when shopping for chemical ingredients at an Asda store in Derby, the Old Bailey has been told.

Mohammed, a Sudanese immigrant, is said to have quickly formed an “emotional attachment and shared ideology” with fellow divorcee El-Hassan.

While the pair dated, between Derby and London, Mohammed allegedly made contact with an Islamic State commander and volunteered to carry out a terror attack in Britain.

A jury was shown footage from the supermarket, where Mohammed is said to have spoken to El-Hassan on the phone about what to buy.

She sent him a link to a bottle of hydrogen peroxide, the court heard.