“Our investigation so far indicates Reilly, who had a history of mental illness, had adopted the Islamic faith.”
This is what Devon and Cornwall Police Deputy Chief Constable Tony Melville said about the man who tried to blow up a family restuarant in Exeter earlier today – reported on the BBC.
Now we know Islamist terrorists in Iraq use mentally disabled people as suicide bombers, but it would be a quite a wake-up if our local jihadis have now adopted similar tactics.
According to the BBC report, police believe that “despite his weak and vulnerable illness, he was preyed upon, radicalised and taken advantage of.”
The bomber was the only one injured when his bomb majfunctioned. A second device was discovered and “made safe”. I doubt – if the news reports are anything to go by – that this man had the mental faculties to make bombs – even malfunctioning ones. So somewhere out there, a very dangerous and dispicable individual or group is still at large.
