MOSCOW (Sputnik) — According to The Telegraph, Muhammad, an Italian citizen of Pakistani descent, was trying to smuggle a pipe bomb on his flight to Italy inside a suitcase in January. Initially, Manchester Airport security officers and police failed to arrest the suspect on the spot, deciding that the explosive was not viable.
The perpetrator was arrested later, in February, after UK counterterrorism agents found that the device could be potentially dangerous. At this point, he had visited Italy and returned back to Manchester.
The convicted claimed he had never seen the bomb and denied all terrorism charges.
The United Kingdom has suffered a number of terror attacks over the recent months. The country is currently on a "severe" threat level for international terrorism, meaning that an attack is highly likely. The UK media reported in late May that the UK intelligence services had investigated some 23,000 individuals with extremist views considered to pose a potential terrorist threat.
