Sources said that the Remembrance Sunday bomb contained shrapnel, and would have resulted in many deaths if it had exploded correctly.
Emad Al Swealmeen loaded the homemade device with nails and bolts – but it failed to fully detonate when it went off in a taxi outside Liverpool Women’s Hospital just before 11am on Sunday.
Experts think that if the vehicle had worked as it was intended, then metal fragments could have been scattered in every direction, shredding cars and cutting down pedestrians.
Emad Al-Swealmeen, 32, pictured, loaded a homemade explosive device with nails and bolts but it failed to fully detonate when it went off in a taxi outside Liverpool Women’s Hospital just before 11am on Sunday
It is expected that forensic testing will reveal the reason it failed.
The taxi’s driver David Perry is thought to have escaped serious injury because the blast was largely confined to the back seat before the vehicle erupted in flames.
Yesterday’s revelation revealed that Al Swealmeen was 32 and had spent several months surfing the web to purchase small quantities of metal components and chemicals to avoid detection.
An online shopping package was said to be constantly delivered to the apartment of this failed asylum seeker who came from Iraq.
The bomb factory was found with traces of chemical residues that officers believe indicate that the suspect experimented using various explosives.
One of the recipes he is understood to have followed was for hexamethylene triperoxide diamine – the same material used by the July 7 2005 London bombers.
Missfire: After the bomb explodes, the taxi starts to burn
Amazon was used to purchase key ingredients in terror attacks, such as those at the Manchester Arena and Parsons Green tubes explosions.
Yesterday, Al Swealmeen’s company stated that it would check to determine if he had purchased chemicals like hydrogen peroxide.
An Amazon spokesman said: ‘We only sell products that comply with UK laws. In addition, we also continue to work closely with police and law enforcement agencies.’
The motive for the attack remains unclear because officers have yet to access the bomber’s computers.
Al Swealmeen was a convert to Christianity after attending services in Fazakerley, Liverpool Cathedral. However, his leaders at the local church said that he left sight after a while.
Reports yesterday suggested that he was a regular attendee of a nearby mosque.
Far-Right extremism has for the first time overtaken Islamism as the main reason for referrals to the Government’s anti-radicalisation programme Prevent, say official figures.
After the blast at Liverpool Women’s Hospital, Remembrance Sunday, a forensic officer removed the damaged vehicle from the air.
This was responsible for 1,229 referrals. That’s about 25% of the 4,915 that were made between April 2020 and March 2019.
There were 1,064 about Islamism – 22 per cent. The majority of those who were not able to identify their ideology or are unsure about it, had mixed beliefs.
Prevent reported a 22% decrease in referrals since 2016. Under-20s account for 48 per cent of cases – and men for 88 per cent.