Iraqi man detonated bomb outside hospital after asylum claim rejected

Emad Al Swealmeen died after detonating the device while in a taxi outside Liverpool Women’s Hospital

An aerial view of a damaged car being removed by forensic officers after the explosion at the Liverpool Women's Hospital that killed one person and injured another. PA

An Iraqi-born man who detonated a bomb outside an English hospital “had a grievance against the British state” after his asylum claim was rejected, a police investigation has found.

Emad Al Swealmeen, 32, died after detonating the device, which he had made himself, while in a taxi outside Liverpool Women's Hospital just before 11am on November 14, 2021.

The driver, David Perry, managed to escape.

The explosion, captured on hospital CCTV, propelled ball bearings forward through the vehicle to the extent the front windscreen was forced out and travelled 16 metres, where it hit a tree, and damage was caused to the windows of the hospital building.

Detective superintendent Andy Meeks, of Counter Terrorism Policing North West, told a briefing on Monday it was believed Al Swealmeen intended to go into the hospital and detonate the device, but it was likely that it exploded earlier than planned.

He said there was no evidence anyone else was involved in the attack.

A police report on the investigation said there was no evidence Al Swealmeen held extremist views.

It said: “It seems most likely that Al Swealmeen's grievance against the British state for failing to accept his asylum claim compounded his mental ill health which in turn fed that grievance and ultimately a combination of those factors led him to undertake the attack.”

Mr Meeks said Al Swealmeen, who was born in Iraq, went to considerable lengths to stay in the country, including converting to Christianity, although the authenticity of his conversion was in doubt.

Al Swealmeen, who relocated from Iraq to Jordan in the 1990s, came to the UK in 2014.

Asylum claim

He falsely claimed to be a Syrian national when interviewed by Home Office officials but his asylum claim was rejected.

Mr Meeks said Al Swealmeen began a conversion to Christianity in 2015, when his asylum appeal rights were exhausted, and was baptised at Liverpool Cathedral in November that year.

He forwarded letters of support from members of the church community to the Home Office to support his asylum claim in 2017.

In January 2020 a further asylum claim was rejected, on the basis he had not truly accepted the Christian faith and rejected others.

Mr Meeks said Al Swealmeen's deterioration in mental health coincided with developments in his asylum case.

He was detained by police under the Mental Health Act in 2015 and was later sectioned.

Police found Al Swealmeen rented a flat in Rutland Avenue with the “sole purpose” of building the bomb.

Officers discovered mixing bowls and bags of explosive mixture inside the flat, along with a mobile phone containing instructions on how to make explosives.

A search of his other address, which he shared with other asylum claimants in Sutcliffe Street, uncovered two unfinished improvised firearms.

Police found contents of mobile phones belonging to Al Swealmeen had been largely erased and he took precautions to conceal his intentions.

The report said: “Consequently, we will never truly know why Al Swealmeen took the actions that he did that led to the explosion outside the Liverpool Women's Hospital.”