Terror suspect shown 'fleeing' UK

Updated 13.15 Thu Mar 08 2007
Keywords: Terror trial, July 21

CCTV images of one of the alleged July 21 bombers fleeing the UK for Europe has been shown in court.

Woolwich Crown Court was told the movements of the supposed Shepherd's Bush bomber, Hussain Osman, were traced from the moment his rucksack explosive device failed to detonate to him boarding a Eurostar train five days later.

Casually dressed, the images showed him stopping at passport control, allegedly handing over his brother's passport before waiting to board the 9.09 train to Paris

In a series of film and photographs Osman is shown with a shaved head and beard as he travelled from London to Brighton and back again.

Osman, 28, left London several hours after his device failed on July 21 and was driven to Brighton, it was claimed. He stayed with friends for two days before returning to the capital by train, junior prosecution counsel Max Hill said.

Back in London, Osman allegedly spent three days making plans to travel to Rome where one of his brothers was living.

On July 26, he took a Eurostar train to Paris, using the British passport of another brother to get past the authorities, the jury was told. From Paris, he travelled to Rome, where he was eventually arrested on July 29.

CCTV showed Osman carrying a white bag as he boarded a train in Brighton on July 23, bound for London.

He was met at Clapham Junction in the south west of the capital by another man with whom he stayed in nearby Vauxhall.

While making his escape from the UK on July 26, he was seen calmly walking through a busy Waterloo station with a black bag in his hand.

Casually dressed, the images showed him stopping at passport control, allegedly handing over his brother's passport before waiting to board the 9.09 train to Paris.

The court heard how on arrest in Rome, Osman was found with a Samsung video camera containing no memory card and an Ethiopian passport in the name of Hamdi Isaac Adus - said to be Osman's real name.

In addition, he was also found with the British passport of one of his brothers, it was alleged.

Mr Hill showed the jury photographs of a battered pair of Timberland boots found in the grounds of the University of Brighton on July 29.

He said a footprint which perfectly matched the boot was found in a house near Shepherd's Bush station, through which it is alleged Osman scrambled to escape.

Osman, 28, of no fixed address, is one of six defendants charged with conspiracy to murder and conspiracy to cause explosions likely to endanger life.

The others are Muktar Said Ibrahim, 29, of Stoke Newington, north London, Adel Yahya, 24, of High Road, Tottenham, north London, Manfo Kwaku Asiedu, 33, of no fixed address, Ramzi Mohammed, 25, of North Kensington, west London and Yassin Omar, 26, from New Southgate, north London.

All six deny the charges against them.

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