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Greenwich Tube bomb was a prank, autistic teen who put explosive device on train will claim | |
(35 minutes later) | |
An autistic teenager accused of sparking a terror scare after the discovery of a suspicious package at a London underground station will claim he only put an explosive device on a train as a prank, a court heard. | |
Damon Smith, 19, was arrested by armed police after the discovery of a suspect backpack put North Greenwich tube station on lockdown for eight hours. | |
The rucksack was found inside a Jubilee Line underground train on 20 October and later detonated by bomb disposal experts in a controlled explosion. | |
Mr Smith, of Abbeyfield Road in Southwark, south-east London, spoke only to confirm his name and address when he stood before senior district judge Emma Arbuthnot at Westminster Magistrates' Court in London on Thursday. | |
Throughout the 18-minute hearing, however, he smiled and waved in the direction of his mother in public gallery. | Throughout the 18-minute hearing, however, he smiled and waved in the direction of his mother in public gallery. |
He entered no plea to the charge of unlawfully and maliciously making or possessing an unspecified explosive substance with intent to endanger life or cause serious injury to property. | He entered no plea to the charge of unlawfully and maliciously making or possessing an unspecified explosive substance with intent to endanger life or cause serious injury to property. |
However, defence counsel Simon Eastwood indicated that his client, who has a form of autism, would be pleading not guilty on the grounds that it was a prank. | However, defence counsel Simon Eastwood indicated that his client, who has a form of autism, would be pleading not guilty on the grounds that it was a prank. |
The rucksack had contained a flask, powder, ball bearings, a clock timing device, a battery and an initiator. | The rucksack had contained a flask, powder, ball bearings, a clock timing device, a battery and an initiator. |
Mr Smith, a student at London Metropolitan University, was arrested the day after the incident on Holloway Road in North London, yards from his university’s library. | |
He was charged under the Explosive Substances Act 1883. | He was charged under the Explosive Substances Act 1883. |
Mr Smith, who appeared in court wearing a baggy grey-green jumper and grey trousers, was remanded in custody until his next appearance, at the Old Bailey, on 17 November. |
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