Unsurprisingly the bomb incident in Exeter's Princesshay yesterday lunchtime is the lead item of news here at the moment. In fact the first five pages of today's Western Morning News is devoted to it. So what do we know so far? An explosion happened in the toilet at 'The Giraffe' cafe at 12.50. One person received non life threatening facial injuries as a result of the blast, he is under police guard in hospital and I understand it will be next week before the police can talk to him in detail. He has been named as Nicky Reilly, a young man living in Plymouth and recently converted to Islam.
Not only is he being held by the police but they have unusually released information about him at a very early stage. They state that he has a history of mental illness and has been "radicalised". That this information was known by them at this point in time suggests they might have already had intelligence information about this chap. Praise has been heaped on the police for the quick and calm way they evacuated the immediate area; it seems that another explosive device was found nearby and subsequently made safe. We now learn that the bomb that went off consisted of chemicals and nails but apart from Mr Reilly no-one was injured.
Other information released relates to Reilly being seen with a rucksack on the bus from Plymouth to Exeter yesterday morning and a visit by the bomb squad to his home in Plymouth.
Finding the people behind this bombing attempt is evidently now a priority for the police.
5 o'clock UPDATE:
In connection with the Exeter incident police have now arrested a couple of men in the Old Town Street area of Plymouth.
Friday, 23 May 2008
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Regarding the police activity in Plymouth rather than two people being arrested, officially there has been one arrest whilst another person is helping with enquiries. I have to admit I don't really understand the subtle difference between the two.
As I suggested in my piece the police have confirmed that they did have prior intelligence about Mr Reilly, that's not to say that they had any inkling of the specific events that were to occur in Exeter on Thursday.
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