back to article Brit moron tried buying a car bomb on dark web, posted it to his address. Now he's screwed

A British teenager who tried to order a car bomb on the dark web and get it delivered to his address has been found guilty this week. Gurtej Randhawa Failure ... Gurtej Randhawa (Source: NCA) Gurtej Randhawa, 19, of Wightwick, in the West Midlands of England, was cuffed by cops in May after purchasing what he thought was …

  1. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    And if this sudden jihadist had not been so stupid? How many dead?

    The real story here is about teenagers who grow up wanting to murder infidels for their religion.

    "He was not involved in an organised crime group or linked to terrorism..."

    Um, car bomb? Yet, no "link to terrorism"? Yeah, sure.

    1. AdamWill

      er...

      ...why are you assuming he's a 'jihadist' exactly? If I were gonna make any cases, based on the name and mugshot, I'd guess he was a Sikh.

      And no, wanting a car bomb doesn't make you a terrorist. Terrorism is violence with a political objective. Thus the Las Vegas shooting, for instance, wasn't terrorism. Plenty of people have been blown up with car bombs for non-political reasons.

      1. macjules

        Re: er...

        The Mattese Government Mafia use carbombs, yet nobody accuses them of terrorism.

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: er...

          The Maltese Government Mafia use carbombs, yet nobody accuses them of terrorism.

          No, but politically the country is in such a mess that even the corrupt people are fed up, and whoever did this has pretty much put a fuse to a powder keg.

          That said, WTF? Selling car bomb assemblies online? Sure, grab the buyers asap but I certainly would want to have the proven sellers moved to narrower confines as well, preferably with one of their products, counting down from a week. "I didn't know the buyer was going to blow things up" is a rather hard sell to any sane judge IMHO.

          1. Alistair

            Re: er...

            @AC

            "Selling car bomb assemblies online? Sure, grab the buyers asap"

            The implication in the article is that the seller was a cop. Posting to a dark web sales portal.

            There are of course *other* implications there but I'll bet fairly long odds that this was in the category of that group of LEA that are tasked with "Get some idiot to do something stupid online, and find out where they live". Like the herd of '13 year old teenage girls'.

        2. Yet Another Anonymous coward Silver badge

          Re: er...

          The Mafia use carbombs, yet nobody accuses them of terrorism.\

          Not twice anyway

      2. Solarflare

        Re: er...

        "why are you assuming he's a 'jihadist' exactly?"

        He's assuming that because the guy is brown. Whether John will admit that or not is another matter...

        1. Scott Broukell

          Judging a book by it's cover

          "He's assuming that because the guy is brown" And therein lies the problem, because if you were to open up any of us humans, be it with a machete, an IED or on the surgeons table, you will find that we are ALL exactly the same colour on the inside. Yet the wrapper is what gets our attention and not the shared contents. Quite when humanity, as a whole, will be able to get over this apparently built-in bias towards some really quite subtle external differences is increasingly difficult to tell, but I feel sure that the primitive tribalism and deluded religious belief systems which we continue to exhibit will keep us all held back from progress for some time to come.

          1. Stoneshop
            Boffin

            Re: Judging a book by it's cover

            because if you were to open up any of us humans, be it with a machete, an IED or on the surgeons table, you will find that we are ALL exactly the same colour on the inside.

            At least, after correcting for the number of cigarettes smoked during their lifetime.

          2. Anonymous Coward
            Anonymous Coward

            Re: Judging a book by it's cover

            Quite when humanity, as a whole, will be able to get over this apparently built-in bias towards some really quite subtle external differences is increasingly difficult to tell...

            I think we never will, although we should certainly try hard to.

            I suspect this bias is deliberately hard-wired into all of us so we can very quickly make a decision about who is in our tribe/pack vs. who is not, and therefore might be a competing or dangerous threat. Dogs and other pack animals behave in just the same way. The BIOS in our wet-ware stack has not been updated for a very, very long time. As a species we will react very badly indeed when we meet our first ET en masse.

          3. Aodhhan

            Re: Judging a book by it's cover

            We're all the same on the inside... this is a parochial method of thinking. I take it you're an adult now, and can stop repeating things you were taught when you were 8.

            The problem is, the lungs, liver, [insert any organ] may be 'roughly' the same; however, how the brain is programmed and processes isn't the same. It's the brain, not any other organ which dictates your actions.

            If you're poor and you grow up in crappy conditions, you're going to see life a lot different than someone who didn't want for anything. You're also going to have very different life experiences.

            We don't need white people to 'help us', defend or pander to us. We definitely don't want white people going out of their way to show us they aren't racist. It's not shocking to us, when we invite these white individuals to come to our house to have an evening meal... they'll do everything to change the subject or wiggle out.

            You want to lash out against racism then lash out at racism/prejudice, but do it without describing color, religion, jihad, etc. Stop pandering and whining, and start living and accepting ALL people the SAME.

            If this kid was white, there wouldn't be any mention of race, religion, conspiracy, etc.

            1. Anonymous Coward
              Anonymous Coward

              Re: Judging a book by it's cover

              We don't need white people to 'help us', defend or pander to us. We definitely don't want white people going out of their way to show us they aren't racist. It's not shocking to us, when we invite these white individuals to come to our house to have an evening meal... they'll do everything to change the subject or wiggle out.

              You want to lash out against racism then lash out at racism/prejudice, but do it without describing color, religion, jihad, etc. Stop pandering and whining, and start living and accepting ALL people the SAME.

              I would like to add a flipside to that, though - stop explaining everything you don't like as racism. I grew up with people of all colour and race, and to me, skin colour has about the same significance as hair colour. We used to poke fun at each other about either colour in the same fashion, and that was OK because we accepted that was simply a physical difference that had no local or collective impact on the person underneath. I accept that other people with my skin colour have been racist and abusive, but recognise that that doesn't make *all* white people racists.

              It may help if you translate that "pandering" as people actually caring, and being upset that others not only are racists but actively encourage each other to perpetuate that miscategorisation of fellow human beings. If there is something you don't like, gently correct them but remember that they're on "your" side, with "your" meaning "our - all of us".

              Apologies if this is a bit of a ramble but I wanted to do this unedited.

              BTW: in fact, few white people exist. Generally they're pink-ish :).

              BTW2: if being of colour is so bad, do racists avoid getting a tan?

          4. Kane

            Re: Judging a book by it's cover

            "...because if you were to open up any of us humans, be it with a machete, an IED or on the surgeons table, you will find that we are ALL exactly the same colour on the inside."

            Reminds me of a Clive Barker quote: "Every body is a book of blood; Wherever we're opened, we're red."

        2. bombastic bob Silver badge
          Thumb Down

          Re: er...

          "He's assuming that because the guy is brown."

          it ALSO takes a racist to make a statement like that... because SJW's who focus on race are, in fact, RACIST for doing so.

      3. Lysenko

        Re: er...

        If I were gonna make any cases, based on the name and mugshot, I'd guess he was a Sikh

        All the name tells you is that he has Pubjabi heritage (Jat, specifically) and most Punjabis are Pakistani (~70%) and therefore Muslim (~98%).

        1. Martin Taylor 1

          Re: er...

          "All the name tells you is that he has Pubjabi heritage (Jat, specifically) and most Punjabis are Pakistani (~70%) and therefore Muslim (~98%)."

          But I would expect a Muslim to have a Muslim name. The top-knot also suggests a wearer of a Sikh turban.

          1. Anonymous Coward
            Anonymous Coward

            Re: er...

            European media has been known to leave the - as you put it - "muslim" bits out.

            Wasn't it in Sweden where they even lightened skin tones in published photos?

            Let's all hold hands and say all we want for Christmas the general holiday season is world peace an alt+Left one world government?

          2. ToddRundgrensUtopia

            Re: er...

            I may be wrong, but I thought all Singhs are Sihks. I however missed "Singh" in the Registers article, I did see it in other journals. I also do not see a "top knot" in this article which again to me would say Sikh.

          3. CrazyOldCatMan Silver badge

            Re: er...

            The top-knot also suggests a wearer of a Sikh turban.

            Also, pre-partition, lots of Sikhs lived in the Punjab. Post-partition, lots of them were dead and the rest fled to India.

            Same happened in reverse in the parts of the Punjab that remained Indian - the Moslems were mostly dead or fled to Pakistan.

            A pretty terrible situation for all involved.

            So - having a Punjabi name certainly doesn't preclude him being Sikh.

        2. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: er...

          "All the name tells you is that he has Pubjabi heritage (Jat, specifically) and most Punjabis are Pakistani (~70%) and therefore Muslim (~98%)."

          Wrong. Punjabi heritage yes, but after 1947, part of Punjab ended up in Pakistan and the rest in India. Guess which side the Muslims ended up in?

          And Randhawa is a typically Sikh surname not Muslim.

        3. isr

          Re: er...

          (This is the same level of intelligence as those dimwits who used to go around beating up Sikhs in 'Murica because they wear turbans, so they must be related to Bin Laden. Except in this case, tragicomically - its in reverse.)

          Lovely how people think a few google searches suddenly makes them an authoritative expert. NOT.

          (copious use of uppercase below means exactly what it implies)

          Yes, the larger part of Punjab is now in Pakistan. And that is predominantly Muslim.

          However, as someone OF Pakistani (and Punjabi) heritage, I can (and, well, WILL) tell you, categorically, that his name DOES show that he is NOT a Muslim.

          Consequently, without any further research, you can deduce (with a likely success rate in the high 99% range) that he is also not of Pakistani-Punjabi origin.

          If you had done a little better job with your googling (basically, just see the bbc article about this which gives his FULL name, with 'Singh'), then you can up the probablity that he is not Pakistani nor Muslim to 99.99999999%

          In which case, we can now state with greater confidence that you are a visitor from Alpha Centauri Prime, than we can state that he is a Pakistani-Muslim.

          1. James O'Shea

            Re: er...

            "If you had done a little better job with your googling (basically, just see the bbc article about this which gives his FULL name, with 'Singh'), then you can up the probablity that he is not Pakistani nor Muslim to 99.99999999%"

            Ooh, yeah... someone with 'Singh' in their name and from anywhere _near_ the Punjab is going to be Sikh (95+% probability) or Hindu (what's left) not Muslim. Not unless he converted and kept the name, anyway, something quite unlikely. All (male) Sikhs have 'Singh' somewhere about (girls have 'Kaur') but not all Singhs are Sikhs.

      4. Timmy B

        Re: er...

        RE: "why are you assuming he's a 'jihadist' exactly?"

        Because on balance of probability, being that the vast majority of terrorist incidents world wide are linked to Islam, then it's most likely that's the case here.

        1. sabroni Silver badge

          Re: the vast majority of terrorist incidents world wide are linked to Islam

          Or you could say the vast majority of terrorists incidents world wide are linked to western imperialism. Learn a bit of history, as usual the situation is far more complex than "islam = bad, capitalism = good".

          No, I'm not excusing terrorism, I'm also not giving Western governments a free pass.

          1. Timmy B

            Re: the vast majority of terrorist incidents world wide are linked to Islam

            "Or you could say the vast majority of terrorists incidents world wide are linked to western imperialism. "

            The majority of Islamic terrorist actions worldwide are not against western countries. That kind of makes your point silly.

            How many western countries currently have the death penalty for apostasy or homosexuality or adultery? The issue here isn't big bad imperialists. It is a incompatible difference between Islam and western ideals.

            1. Loyal Commenter Silver badge

              Re: the vast majority of terrorist incidents world wide are linked to Islam

              How many western countries currently have the death penalty for apostasy or homosexuality or adultery?

              Unless those countries you are thinking of are specifically theocracies, they will have a separation of state and religion, and thus their laws are a cultural, not a religious artefact. Don't conflate what are societal norms in a culture with religion. Very few countries have the death penalty for apostasy (although there is no excuse for those that do), and several sub-saharan african countries that are nominally Christian have the death penalty for homosexuality or adultery.

              The fact is that Islam encompasses a vast number of people from different cultural backgrounds, and you are insinuating that they all behave like the lowest common denominator. It's the exact same faulty thinking that equates all Christians with racist bible-belt gun nuts.

              1. Sir Runcible Spoon
                WTF?

                Re: the vast majority of terrorist incidents world wide are linked to Islam

                In addition to innate racial discrimination (which civilized beings try to overcome with rational thoughts) there is a very disturbing set of people who seem to find it acceptable to make disabled peoples' lives even more miserable than it probably already is.

                I mean, really, what could someone with one leg, or down syndrome, possibly have done to someone that was so bad that hundreds of arseholes think it's ok to ridicule them, even attack them?

                Are peoples' lives so empty and devoid of compassion that they can't tell when they are actually quite well off (historically speaking) and feel like bashing on someone totally worse off than they are?

                Seriously, I don't get it.

                1. Kiwi
                  Pint

                  Re: the vast majority of terrorist incidents world wide are linked to Islam

                  Seriously, I don't get it.

            2. Voland's right hand Silver badge

              Re: the vast majority of terrorist incidents world wide are linked to Islam

              How many western countries currently have the death penalty for apostasy or homosexuality or adultery?

              You would be surprised by how many people in western countries would like to introduce these. I suggest a re-educational visit to Utah or rural Poland to expand your cultural horizons.

              1. Anonymous Coward
                Anonymous Coward

                Re: the vast majority of terrorist incidents world wide are linked to Islam

                @ Voland's right hand

                " .. rural Poland .. "

                That's just it, you'd have to go to some obscure part of a obscure state or province to find them .. Western nations aren't exactly going head over heals to institute such things. hello

                1. Kiwi
                  Black Helicopters

                  Re: the vast majority of terrorist incidents world wide are linked to Islam

                  Western nations aren't exactly going head over heals to institute such things. hello

                  Look closer. "Head over heels"? No. "How can we make the public want this?" - that's another matter.

              2. Timmy B

                Re: the vast majority of terrorist incidents world wide are linked to Islam

                To voland

                "You would be surprised by how many people in western countries would like to introduce these."

                Not many as people in these places tend to vote in their laws and none of them have voted these in. But religious dictatorships are another thing....

            3. Mike Moyle

              Re: the vast majority of terrorist incidents world wide are linked to Islam

              "How many western countries currently have the death penalty for apostasy or homosexuality or adultery?"

              The Dominionists leading the ever-rightward push in the Republican party are salivating at the possibility of doing exactly that in the U.S.. If the Democrats can't get their act together, expect it in about ten years.

          2. Anonymous Coward
            Anonymous Coward

            Re: the vast majority of terrorist incidents world wide are linked to Islam

            ok but can we at least agree:

            99.99999% muslim people = good

            many ideas in islam = bad

            Criticising ideas (not people) should not be equated with racism/bigotry plus some simple facts about the link between islamism and terrorism need to be accepted:

            https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DIAb5tkU0AAyKyA.jpg

        2. Peter2 Silver badge

          Re: er...

          "RE: "why are you assuming he's a 'jihadist' exactly?""

          I think the assumption goes something along the lines of

          1) He was in poesssion of a (fake) car bomb.

          2) This has no other purporse than blowing up a car and killing people nearby with shrapnel.

          3) That's usually connected with terrorism.

          4) The substantive majority of people slaughtering random crowds at the moment are jihadists. (replacing the IRA, and wide variety of terrorist groups funded by the soviet union during the cold war in revenge for us bankrolling and supplying the taliban and causing the soviet union to have to quit afghanistan)

          1. Doctor Syntax Silver badge

            Re: er...

            "3) That's usually connected with terrorism."

            Read what you wrote again. See that word "usually"? It's a dangerous word to use if you're not into rigorous thinking. It can lead you seriously off-track.

            1. nijam Silver badge

              Re: er...

              > It's a dangerous word to use if you're not into rigorous thinking

              Well, I'd say it's a dangerous word to omit if you're not into rigorous thinking.

            2. Anonymous Coward
              Anonymous Coward

              Re: er...

              "3) That's usually connected with terrorism."

              Not really.

              Car bombs are mostly targeted mob and political assassination devices. They are used to remove a particular offending Maltese, Ukrainian or Italian journo, a Sicilian prosecutor who is refusing to take the handsome offer given to him, etc. While in some cases it may qualify under the definition of terrorism in most cases it is jut plain old mob settling scores.

              (*)The guy is most likely a Sikh by the way (I am 95% confident as I was unfortunate to have a Sikh with the same family name as a boss and he mentioned he had relatives in that neighbourhood). So that mostly removes the more common terrorist motives for the "UK market" at present.

          2. Alistair
            Windows

            Re: er...

            @ Peter2

            The taliban

            Osama bin Laden

            The Muslim Brotherhood

            ISIS (no concrete proof on that one yet, but y'know, regime change and all)

            Jamaliat based variants throughout asia .....

            And that's just the muslim radicals that the "western" governments have spent money, arms, training on in the last 50 years. We could go on and on -- there's reason to look at all of Chechnya and several of the 'stans something about oil and other interesting minerals that seem to have gone missing over the years... It really is a simple fact, the CIA is either utterly stupid or completely insane.

            1. Sir Runcible Spoon
              Coat

              Re: er...

              "It really is a simple fact, the CIA is either utterly stupid or completely insane."

              That doesn't look like an xor function to me.

              1. Alistair
                Windows

                Re: er...

                @SirRS

                ---- I'll concede that I could have used better syntax there.....

          3. Joe Montana

            Re: er...

            Actually the primary purpose of a car bomb is usually to blow up the car and kill the occupants, trying to kill or injure nearby pedestrians with shrapnel would usually be achieved by filling the entire car with something explosive or flammable. A car bomb is usually small and concealed so the driver of the car doesn't notice its presence until it detonates.

            That said there is also a small chance that this guy was driven by curiosity rather than nefarious purposes, perhaps he wanted to buy an old car and blow it up in a field somewhere to make a youtube video? People are *supposed* to be innocent until proven guilty and destroying your own property is not a crime.

          4. Prst. V.Jeltz Silver badge

            Re: er...

            I'm assuming the 4 pages of comments are all in one chain due the the el reg system , so this one will appear 4 pages and 50 subjects later than the one I'm replying to, so i wont bother.

            Its interesting looking at the patterns of up and down votes to the comments on this discussion though.

        3. aphexbr

          Re: er...

          "the vast majority of terrorist incidents world wide are linked to Islam"

          Only because when white people commit terrorist actions, they're "lone wolves", "have mental issues", etc. Anything to not call them terrorists when they blow people up or kill scores of innocent people. Shooting up churches in the name of creating a race war isn't terrorism because Dylann Roof was white, don't ya know, and Brevik wasn't really a terrorist for reasons. But, if a guy's brown it's a terrorist action no matter the actual intention.

          You know, because admitting that there's lots of other terrorists and that the vast majority of Muslims do no such thing gets in the way of excuses to drop bombs on their countries and stealing their resources. Except the Sauds, of course, they're the good ones despite being behind lots of the actual terrorism directly.

          1. ToddRundgrensUtopia

            Re: er...

            Most acts of terrorism are committed by muslims. i.e. they believe that there is only one true religion and way of life and all should follow it or should not exist. Roman catholics used to do the same thing, so give Islam another 50 years, (hopefully we wont need 700 years), and they might grow up and realise religions are fairly silly things to follow.

            1. Anonymous Coward
              Anonymous Coward

              Re: er...

              Most acts of terrorism are committed by muslims. i.e. they believe that there is only one true religion and way of life and all should follow it or should not exist

              I'm not entirely sure the IRA & associated outfits have entirely stopped.

            2. CrazyOldCatMan Silver badge

              Re: er...

              Most acts of terrorism are committed by muslims

              I would suggest that you don't approach a member of the RealIRA and suggest that he might be a Muslim..

              1. James O'Shea

                Re: er...

                "Most acts of terrorism are committed by muslims

                I would suggest that you don't approach a member of the RealIRA and suggest that he might be a Muslim.."

                Oh, I'd suggest that he do just that. Just so long as he let me know beforehand, so that I could watch from a nice safe distance. And, if possible, he should let me have enough time to get some popcorn.

        4. James O'Shea

          Re: er...

          "Because on balance of probability, being that the vast majority of terrorist incidents world wide are linked to Islam, then it's most likely that's the case here."

          Damn boy, you mean that the ee-vul bacon-haters have gone and taken another job from us hard-working, exceedingly Catholic, Irishmen? Time for a new crusade! Deus Vult! (No, not deus vulture, you prod gits.)

        5. isr

          Re: er...

          So despite the facts that:

          - he's not a Muslim

          - he's not from a Muslim country

          the "probabilities" still check out for you?

          And, if you're from Murica, then the fact that most of the biggest terrorist incidents in the last decade have all been carried out by white Christian men wih guns, you're still equating terrorism with Muslims solely?

          Hmm ...

      5. James O'Shea

        Re: er...

        "...why are you assuming he's a 'jihadist' exactly? If I were gonna make any cases, based on the name and mugshot, I'd guess he was a Sikh."

        More likely a Jat... some of whom are of the Sikh faith, others Hindu, others Muslim. The name alone is insufficient, and he looks as though he might have shaved sometime which means he probably isn't an _observant_ Sikh. Maybe.

      6. TimNevins

        Re: er...

        I think you need to open up a dictionary and see what the definition of terror is:

        noun

        1.intense, sharp, overmastering fear:

        to be frantic with terror.

        2.an instance or cause of intense fear or anxiety; quality of causing terror:

        to be a terror to evildoers.

        3.any period of frightful violence or bloodshed likened to the Reign of Terror in France.

        4.violence or threats of violence used for intimidation or coercion; terrorism.

        I'm going to make a wild guess and say the people in Las Vegas were terrified.

        1. David Nash Silver badge

          Re: er...

          That's the definition of terror, yes, but the modern definition of terrorISM normally requires association with some group, normally international, with political or religious motives.

        2. AdamWill

          Re: er...

          "I think you need to open up a dictionary and see what the definition of terror is:"

          Why? The word in question was terrorism, not terror. They have six letters in common, but they're not the same word.

          (To be very clear: not everything that causes terror is terrorism. Otherwise we'd be struggling to cope with a prison population which had suddenly swollen to include all the world's horror movie directors (at least, the good ones) and haunted house operators.)

        3. Jamie Jones Silver badge

          Re: er...

          No, no, no!

          Just because someone is terrified, does NOT make it terrorism, however many times the American media and politicians say ao.

          By your definition, if there is a serial rapist working in an area, he's a terrorist, because until he's caught, women are terrified to go out.

          The mad nutjob in Las Vegas... wasn't a terrorist.

          Dylan roof was sorta trying to be a terrorist, but was really just a murdering racist arsehole.

    2. Rich 11

      sudden jihadist

      The cops explicitly say he was not linked to terrorism.

      Big John demonstrates once again that he is incapable of reading simple English without putting it through a very peculiar brain filter.

      1. SundogUK Silver badge

        Re: sudden jihadist

        Big John's point was that the Police were likely not being entirely honest.

        1. Doctor Syntax Silver badge

          Re: sudden jihadist

          "Big John's point was that the Police were likely not being entirely honest."

          That's the result of passing it through the brain filter that Rich 11 mentioned.

      2. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: sudden jihadist

        Big John demonstrates once again that he is incapable of reading simple English without putting it through a very peculiar brain filter.

        FIFY :)

    3. phuzz Silver badge

      "And if this sudden jihadist had not been so stupid? How many dead?"

      If he'd actually been able to buy a car bomb online (and how exactly was he expecting that to work? The postie was just going to turn up one morning with a bomb in a box? How much more transparently a setup would it have to be?), then he'd have wound up killing himself, and maybe his mum (who I'm assuming is the 45 y/o who was arrested with him).

      This dude is clearly not the sharpest tool in the box, I'd guess his next move would have been to declare jihad on facebook using his own account.

      1. 's water music
        Coat

        ...declare jihad on facebook...

        Finally, something we can all get behind.

    4. maffski

      Um, car bomb? Yet, no "link to terrorism"? Yeah, sure.

      I heard he was really offended by the VW emissions thing and that Passat had it coming.

      1. fidodogbreath

        Re: Um, car bomb? Yet, no "link to terrorism"? Yeah, sure.

        I heard he was really offended by the VW emissions thing and that Passat had it coming.

        I have felt that way about a Passat...

    5. Jason Bloomberg Silver badge

      Um, car bomb? Yet, no "link to terrorism"? Yeah, sure.

      Maybe he had a problem with his mother-in-law, could not get hold of an assault rifle, and decided it was easier to blow up the 'church' she attended?

      Because that's terrorism right?

      In fact, from reports I have read, that seems to be pretty much it. He's a Sikh and had a falling out with his parents, presumably also Sikhs. So no "terrorism", no "wanting to murder infidels for their religion", just common or garden grudge, seeking to blow up their car, seemingly with them in it. Hate towards his parents getting out of control.

      Take your anti-Muslim bigotry elsewhere.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        "Take your anti-Muslim bigotry elsewhere."

        Last time I checked, you don't own this place, although I'm sure the high horse offers a super view.

      2. Kiwi
        Paris Hilton

        ...just common or garden grudge, seeking to blow up their car, seemingly with them in i...t

        It that's the case, someone should've told the poor guy that there's easier ways to blow up a car than the way he chose. Why, a self-driving tour of Russia would've been at least as effective (if YouTube is to be believed...), and probably looked less suspicious. And he could enjoy it over and over and overtearfully watch the horrible death of his poor parents along with thousands of others.

        Paris icon coz not sure if I should use the joke icon or something else.

        (Disclaimer: I suspect that per capita Russian drivers aren't that bad, but also per capita have far more dashcams so catch far more incidents)

    6. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      thought you trump voting morons had your own social network, gab or whatever it is ... please kindly piss off and take your anti science, idiotic, ignorant, racist spleen over there ... w*****

      oh and same goes for you other knobs that upvoted you ..

      and good luck commanding the tide not to come in...

    7. a_yank_lurker

      Car bombs

      The Mafia over here has used car bombs to execute someone so it is not clear way he wanted one or who his target is.

  2. Winkypop Silver badge
    FAIL

    A link to religion

    That's usually enough.

  3. Lysenko

    The other possibility...

    ... is that the people running the online market tipped off plod. Crims dealing in drugs and professional hit men aren't necessarily going to have any truck with jihadis.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: The other possibility...

      Or that he posted right into a honey pot.

    2. MiguelC Silver badge

      Re: The other possibility...

      If they're selling bomb material, they probably won't care about who's buying.

      Arms dealers aren't known for their high moral standards, after all.

      1. Kiwi
        Trollface

        Re: The other possibility...

        Arms dealers aren't known for their high moral standards, after all.

        That could explain some things about US.GOV...

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: The other possibility...

          That could explain some things about US. many GOVs...

          It's not just the US that has a large dependency on arms sales in their economy.

      2. James O'Shea

        Re: The other possibility...

        "If they're selling bomb material, they probably won't care about who's buying.

        Arms dealers aren't known for their high moral standards, after all."

        Au contraire, arms dealers have very high standards. Try shorting their payment and see what happens.

  4. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Say, do any online souks have Tsar Bombas for sale?

    1. Peter2 Silver badge

      For sale, or listed for sale with delivery of one long jail sentance?

    2. I ain't Spartacus Gold badge

      What's the delivery cost on a Tsar Bomba?

      A quick Wiki suggests that it's 27 tonnes - and 8m x 2.1m diameter - so you can't even use the forklift in your garage to unload it off the delivery lorry.

      Still, given the cost, I suppose it's not that much more expensive to just buy a lorry and never take it off that until you're ready to use it.

    3. James O'Shea

      hmm... it's Russian, it's old, are you sure it's still in working order? Perhaps you might want to test it.

      1. This post has been deleted by its author

        1. harmjschoonhoven
          Happy

          Re: bomb on display

          AFAIR it was the Science Museum in London that weighted the V-1 before they hoisted it up to put it on display to find that it had exactly the correct mass of 4740 lb and than realized that that included a ton of high explosive. Fortunately the V-1 was topped up with gravel to the listed weight instead.

          1. Kiwi
            Coat

            Re: bomb on display

            AFAIR it was the Science Museum in London that weighted the V-1 before they hoisted it up to put it on display to find that it had exactly the correct mass of 4740 lb and than realized that that included a ton of high explosive. Fortunately the V-1 was topped up with gravel to the listed weight instead.

            Bringing slightly new meaning to "hoist by [their] own petard"....

            1. Prst. V.Jeltz Silver badge

              Re: bomb on display

              I bet the handy man at the museum was overjoyed that 4740 lb exhibit that he had been instructed to hoist into the air had been adjusted to the correct weight with the addition of 1 ton of gravel , after all its important that when hanging over the heads of the visiting public they are staring up at authentically weighted items.

            2. CrazyOldCatMan Silver badge

              Re: bomb on display

              "hoist by [their] own petard"

              A petard being a very old-fashioned mortar or fixed charge used for assaulting city walls with mid-level explosive devices..

              So no, not really.

              1. James O'Shea

                Re: bomb on display

                'petard' is Frog for 'fart'. Froggy wits applied the term to what might now be called a breaching charge. (No, not something moved around in one's breeches, not unless one has a desire for 72 virgins.) HM Royal Engineers showed that it's not true that engineers in general and military engineers in particular have no sense of humo(u)r when they applied the term to the projectile launched by a particular type of armo(u)red vehicle-mounted mortar during WWII.

                https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petard

                The Froggy wits used "hoisted by one's own petard" (in Frog, of course, I can't be bothered to translate it back) to mean 'blown up by your own fart, you silly git, you must be English'. Or something like that. There might also have been some mention of hamsters and elderberries. Frogs are rude. Sassenach deserve it.

    4. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      I hear Kim's "Bombs and Noodles" has one, and the infamous "Cohen Brothers" may also sell.

  5. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    maliciously possessing an explosive substance

    If the boys in blue had switched the package they surely he did not possess anything explosive. or did I miss something?

    1. macjules

      Re: maliciously possessing an explosive substance

      "intent to endanger life or cause serious injury" Once you have established that he intends to set off a bomb, then you not need him to come into contact with the physical device.

      1. Baldrickk

        Re: maliciously possessing an explosive substance

        But the charge was:

        possessing an explosive substance with intent to endanger life or cause serious injury.

        Poster was pointing out that if it was never delivered, he was never in possession of the explosive. (Though he fully intended to be, and the stupid idiot deserves everything he gets)

        1. Muscleguy

          Re: maliciously possessing an explosive substance

          Which would have been his breif's argument too. It would appear to have failed. Probably on the arcane point that the miscreant THOUGHT and acted as though he was in possession of a live explosive device.

          If you point a replica firearm at the police regardless of whether you know it is a replica or not they are very likely to shoot you.

          Hell, being in possession of a table leg and a Glasgow accent can get you shot dead in London.

          1. Doctor Syntax Silver badge

            Re: maliciously possessing an explosive substance

            "Hell, being in possession of a table leg and a Glasgow accent can get you shot dead in London."

            Was the Glasgow accent even a factor?

            1. GruntyMcPugh Silver badge

              Re: Was the Glasgow accent even a factor?

              Kind of, Police were told about an Irishman with a shotgun in a bag,.... so of course went into Rambo mode thinking they were foiling an IRA terror plot, but instead shot a Scot carrying repaired table leg, in the back.

              So the accent was relevant because someone who was shit at detecting accents SWATted him and got him killed.

              1. Roj Blake Silver badge

                Re: Was the Glasgow accent even a factor?

                The Net have problems distinguishing between Scottish and Irish accents just as they have trouble distinguishing between Middle Eastern and South American complexions.

    2. Jason Bloomberg Silver badge

      Re: maliciously possessing an explosive substance

      "Possession" does not necessarily mean the common dictionary definition but how it is defined by law and case law. Also, the offence seems to be "possession of an explosive substance" which is different to "explosive device". It could have been possession of a non-viable explosive device which still contained explosive substance. It could possible refer to the detonator rather than any primary explosive.

      The defence team likely argued it wasn't as charged, and the court found otherwise. To imagine they convicted for an offence which it clearly wasn't doesn't seem that likely to me. But courts are not infallible which is why we have appeal courts.

  6. mike white 1

    Bomb Testing

    Sounds like Darwinism ;)

    "he plod waited until he tried to test the device "

    1. Michael H.F. Wilkinson Silver badge

      Re: Bomb Testing

      My thoughts exactly. However, on second thoughts, you could test the ignition circuitry detached from the detonator quite safely. Otherwise it would indeed be a matter of "here and there he rests in pieces"

  7. DrXym

    The dark web is a blessing for the cops

    I've got to laugh at these dark web stories because the outcomes are so predictable. Einstein here probably thought he was ordering a bomb from a terrorist but in reality it was a honey pot site or a cop posing as a seller. Then all the UK police had to do was deliver the phony bomb and wait for him to pick it up. Case closed.

    The dummies who use the sites think they're safe but in reality they're drawing more heat on themselves than they think. It must be like shooting fish in the barrel for the cops.

    1. Kiwi
      Trollface

      Re: The dark web is a blessing for the cops

      I've got to laugh at these dark web stories because the outcomes are so predictable. Einstein here probably thought he was ordering a bomb from a terrorist but in reality it was a honey pot site or a cop posing as a seller. Then all the UK police had to do was deliver the phony bomb and wait for him to pick it up. Case closed.

      Perhaps, before you call people "dummies" etc, you should RTFA? Y'know, where it says the fuzzies swapped the real device for a dud in transit? :)

  8. Dan 55 Silver badge

    Should have bought the How To book off WH Smiths

    No checks, convenient payment options, safer than the dark web.

    1. Uncle Slacky Silver badge
      Boffin

      Re: Should have bought the How To book off WH Smiths

      Good thing he didn't buy the Anarchist Cookbook:

      http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-bristol-41802493

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Should have bought the How To book off WH Smiths

        As a kid, I thought it was a rebellious book on how to make avant-garde spaghetti or ice cream flavours. I never did get a copy, but turns out it would have made terrible lunch if I did!

        1. I ain't Spartacus Gold badge

          Re: Should have bought the How To book off WH Smiths

          Anarchists Cookbook review

          1 star

          Recipes gave me gas, projectile vomiting and explosive diarrhoea.

      2. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Should have bought the How To book off WH Smiths

        People buy the Anarchists Cookbook?

        I remember having a copy of that when I was 15 and actually trying out one the bombs just for fun in a field. It didn't work so I asked my chemistry teacher why it didn't in a round about sort of what if kind of way, turns out you have to grind chemicals when using oxidisation as a catalyst and I'm pretty sure he knew why I was asking. Needless to say I didn't try again because I'm not stupid.

        1. Sir Runcible Spoon

          Re: Should have bought the How To book off WH Smiths

          @AC: you do realise that in our wonderful new world that you have just made available information that would be of use to a terrorist?

          Fucked up isn't it?

          1. Anonymous Coward
            Anonymous Coward

            Re: Should have bought the How To book off WH Smiths

            @Sir Runcible Spoon

            It is but any would be terrorist that wants to use an oxidising chemical with something flammable is welcome to go and set fire to themselves. That's why I didn't try it a second time, logic kicked in.

          2. Kiwi
            Mushroom

            Re: Should have bought the How To book off WH Smiths

            @AC: you do realise that in our wonderful new world that you have just made available information that would be of use to a terrorist?

            Fucked up isn't it?

            Actually when you think about it.. A week or less ago most of us "of British descent" were celebrating Guy Fawkes.

            Which celebrates an attempted act of terrorism...

            (Some say it celebrates the capture and execution of Mr Fawkes, but others have a different view - mine is "explosions are fun, especially when you're legally allowed to detonate said explosives!" )

        2. WolfFan Silver badge

          Re: Should have bought the How To book off WH Smiths

          Look, making explosives is simple. Making explosives without blowing yourself up, setting yourself on fire, poisoning yourself, or getting severe chemical burns is not. It is trivial to make 'flour' or 'meal' gunpowder. Making 'corned' black powder is rather more of an exercise, and is a lot more dangerous. Making 'smokeless powder' is much less trivial than making black powder. Making nitroglycerin, which would be an essential step in making dynamite or plastic explosives, is easy enough. Making nitroglycerin in substantial quantity without blowing yourself up or letting conc nitric or conc sulphuric roam loose, not so easy. Then there's the serious explosives, like RDX or PETN.

          1. Voland's right hand Silver badge
            Mushroom

            Re: Should have bought the How To book off WH Smiths

            Then there's the serious explosives, like RDX or PETN.

            Making RDX is significantly easier than making STABLE smokeless gunpowder (aka nitrocellulose), TNT or nytroglicerine. On the subject of smokeless gunpowder stability read this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_battleship_Libert%C3%A9

  9. David Roberts
    Trollface

    No mention of any action against the sender

    At a minimum there would be a false customs declaration and abuse of UPS shipping terms and conditions.

    Mind still boggling at the thought of shipping (for a wild example) 2 Kg of Semtex and a detonator via white (or brown) van man with the obvious Fragile stickers plus the "really, no I mean REALLY do not throw this about in the van" instructions.

    O.K. I realise that most modern explosives are very safe to handle, but still.....

    1. Dave Bell

      Re: No mention of any action against the sender

      The explosives should be pretty safe, but the detonators would be the risk. I have seen videos and 2kg of any "commercial" explosive will do a lot of damage.

      I learned a lot from Blaster Bates. Don't use explosives to clean your septic tank.

    2. phuzz Silver badge

      Re: No mention of any action against the sender

      That's because the sender's address was "New Scotland Yard, Victoria Embankment, Westminster, London SW1A 2JL".

      You can't really buy car bombs off the internet, and if you think you can, you're as gullible as this idiot.

      1. Teiwaz

        Re: No mention of any action against the sender

        You can't really buy car bombs off the internet, and if you think you can, you're as gullible as this idiot.

        If I imagined a 'car bomb' for sale, I can kind of see the item supplied 'with car included'

        So maybe he just wanted the car....

        I mean, I've bought computers with a supplied operating system I didn't really want....

      2. Kiwi
        Trollface

        Re: No mention of any action against the sender

        You can't really buy car bombs off the internet,

        You've obviously never brought a car like mine.

        Or a Ford Pinto(?) - making the use of separate explosive superfluous.

        1. Prst. V.Jeltz Silver badge

          Re: No mention of any action against the sender

          "You can't really buy car bombs off the internet"

          How d'you know? I'd imagine they are a bit pricey given the risks etc - the article didnt say how much the idiot paid. It *did* say that the real article was swapped in transit by the cops for a dud , indicating that he did in fact buy a bomb and that the dark web works as advertised. I guess this is why the seller was not prosecuted - they have no idea who the seller is . or where.

  10. unwarranted triumphalism

    Just goes to show...

    How desperate the secularists are to advance their doctrine by any means. And as always, religion gets the blame.

    1. Teiwaz

      Re: Just goes to show...

      How desperate the secularists are to advance their doctrine by any means. And as always, religion gets the blame.

      Umm, your meaning is not clear. You can be religious and still secular. Most Catholics in the world are considered secular, only those in orders like priests, monks, nuns are not.

      secular

      adjective

      1.

      not connected with religious or spiritual matters.

      "secular buildings"

      synonyms: non-religious, lay, non-church, temporal, worldly, earthly, profane; More

      2.

      CHRISTIAN CHURCH

      (of clergy) not subject to or bound by religious rule; not belonging to or living in a monastic or other order.

    2. David Nash Silver badge

      Re: Just goes to show...

      If by "secularist" you mean those who don't believe in a religion, well not having a belief in something doesn't count as a doctrine, which is in fact a belief.

  11. chivo243 Silver badge
    Trollface

    Forest Gump's Momma

    Yep, you know the saying...

    1. Sir Runcible Spoon
      Joke

      Re: Forest Gump's Momma

      "Life is like a box of semtex, you never know what you're going to get."?

  12. Tom 7

    Improvised Marketing Term to defend the defence industry.

    Why dont they just call these things bombs or mines. What's all this "improvised this that and the other" bollocks? They even call them that when they're made from shells we've sold them.

    1. Teiwaz

      Re: Improvised Marketing Term to defend the defence industry.

      "improvised this that and the other"

      Sounds like preparing the ground for possible future official use of such devices.

      'improvised' isn't a word that springs to mind when you've mail ordered something.

      If I ordered a part for my car, and the invoice used the word 'improvised' I'd be looking to return it.

      People should just not put up with shoddy commerce.

      Funnily, Wnidows RT springs to mind...

      1. Death_Ninja

        Re: Improvised Marketing Term to defend the defence industry.

        Yes, improvised bomb... explosives and a detonator.... that's pretty much covering every base isn't it? Unless they mean that it wasn't commercial, hadn't got EU type approval and didn't come with a risk assessment and environmental impact assessment paperwork.

        I believe "bomb" also now has a EU Protected Designation of Origin claim filed by BAE Systems. Its not a bomb if its not made in one of their factories.

        1. I ain't Spartacus Gold badge
          Happy

          Re: Improvised Marketing Term to defend the defence industry.

          So what should I look for when buying my explosives online? Are they supposed to be CE marked? Will the electrics have been PAT tested? What are my consumer rights?

          That's it! I've had enough of this rip off! I'm writing to Watchdog!

          Dear BBC,

          I ordered some goods online. And when they were delivered, not only had they exchanged my order for something different, but they'd also informed the police. What are my consumer rights?

      2. Alistair
        Coat

        Re: Improvised Marketing Term to defend the defence industry.

        "Sounds like preparing the ground for possible future patents of such devices."

        FTFY

    2. Doctor Syntax Silver badge

      Re: Improvised Marketing Term to defend the defence industry.

      What's all this "improvised this that and the other" bollocks?

      Maybe you've never seen one. They don't look high-tech with 7-seg red LEDs and loud bleeps like you see on James Bond. "Improvised" was probably the first appropriate word that came to mind when some ATO was writing up his report.

      1. Teiwaz

        Re: Improvised Marketing Term to defend the defence industry.

        "Improvised" was probably the first appropriate word that came to mind when some ATO was writing up his report.

        Hmm, I'd buy that if I hadn't heard almost identical phrasing a lot in quoted in news items.

        1. Sir Runcible Spoon

          Re: Improvised Marketing Term to defend the defence industry.

          Wasn't the term IED used in reference to roadside bombs that made use of a sheet of metal that got shaped into a pointy cone by the explosion?

    3. phuzz Silver badge
      Mushroom

      Re: Improvised Marketing Term to defend the defence industry.

      Ok, I can see the point in the word "improvised" when we're talking about something not manufactured in a factory, but by that measure the atomic bombs used on Hiroshima and Nagasaki were basically prototypes, and could well be described as "improvised".

      Improvised will still kill your arse dead.

  13. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Police say they were tipped off

    ah, the glory of understatements!

  14. Tigra 07
    Facepalm

    Erm...

    Why are we not prosecuting his accomplices? The two women helping him.

    1. Alister

      Re: Erm...

      There's no claim that the two women were helping him, they were just on the premises when he was arrested. I would guess probably his mum and his sister.

      1. Tigra 07
        Thumb Down

        Re: Erm...

        Hey mom, sis, want to come for a ride in my new shitty 80s car? I bought it off ebay for £100.

        Yeah...Seems legit...

        If they're just innocent bystanders of course, that explains it.

        1. Sir Runcible Spoon

          Re: Erm...

          In America they could now seize the house and all the assets any of these people owned.

          If the property was rented, they could also go after the landlords assets and strip those too.

          1. Tigra 07

            Re: Erm...

            In America he'd probably be in Gitmo pretty soon, with no trial...

          2. anonymous boring coward Silver badge

            Re: Erm...

            "In America they could now seize the house and all the assets any of these people owned."

            What kind of crime would it have to be for that to happen?

            Is Trump in the risk zone?

            1. Sir Runcible Spoon

              Re: Erm...

              Making a pot deal on the doorstep of the house you live in, but don't own, apparently. Something like that anyway.

            2. Kiwi
              Childcatcher

              Re: Erm...

              "In America they could now seize the house and all the assets any of these people owned."

              What kind of crime would it have to be for that to happen?

              Having someone make a pot deal on the premises (as SRS mentions)

              Is Trump in the risk zone?

              Seems not. Depsite no doubt all sorts of drug deals, maybe a few murders, plots/discussions of "terrorists!!!!11!!! acts", paedophilia, partially exposed breasts and who knows what else being committed in properties he owns. Somehow, unlike mere plebs, he's not had such properties seized when such crimes have come to light.

              Maybe there are some amongst the US plod forces who could correct this oversight?

              1. Sir Runcible Spoon

                Re: Erm...

                US Plod only go after people who can't afford to take them to court to get their stuff back, which is only made more poignant once you realise the cops have just taken them for everything they have.

        2. David Nash Silver badge

          Re: Erm...

          It does say they were arrested. So they were clearly suspects initially but I guess pretty soon eliminated as such.

          1. Kiwi

            Re: Erm...

            It does say they were arrested. So they were clearly suspects initially but I guess pretty soon eliminated as such.

            I'm betting at least one of them was behind the "tip off" the police received.

            (And if they believed he was a risk, very good on them - cannot be an easy thing for a mother or sister to do!)

  15. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Why is it

    looking more and more like that dark- and terrorist- nets are run by state secret services? Order anything on tor—secret police delivers to your door. IRA chief counter-intelligence guy turned out to be an MI5 officer after all.

    1. Tigra 07
      Joke

      Re: Why is it

      I had a sneaking suspicion that my weed dealer was an undercover cop. No matter how hard i tried to trust him, there was something in the back of my mind eating away, saying this doesn't seem right.

      ...And then when he arrested me i really started to suspect he may be a cop.

  16. rh587

    I have questions

    Randhawa pleaded guilty to charges of attempting to import explosives but denied maliciously possessing an explosive substance with intent to endanger life or cause serious injury. He was found guilty of the latter charge by Birmingham Crown Court on Tuesday.

    How was he found guilty of "possessing an explosive substance with intent to endanger life" if the Police had switched out the real bomb for a fake one? Or did they give him actual explosives sans detonator (high explosives are remarkably resistant to exploding in the absence of a detonator cap). I would have thought they'd have just send him some blocks of plasticine.

    I buy the importing explosives charge, or even preparing an act of terrorism. But how have they got him on possession?

    1. GruntyMcPugh Silver badge

      Re: I have questions

      Two reasons I can think of, one, intent, he intended to possess and use explosives, and would have without the intervention of the Police, so them intervening doesn't make him less guilty.

      Second, postal services are common carriers and not responsible for the items they carry, so it could be argued that he owned the items once he paid for them, they were in his legal possession from that moment, just being carried by a 3rd party.

    2. This post has been deleted by its author

  17. Mystic Megabyte

    teenagers

    My guess is that he wanted to blow up his parents because they would not lend him their car or date white girls or go to pubs/clubs etc. I'm sure that most teenagers go through a phase of wanting their parents dead at some time or another. Usually the phase passes, in strict households the urge may be stronger.

  18. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    So, that's the security services tested ...

    Now, let's get on with the *real* work.

    Because that's exactly what's happened here. The security services have been played like a violin.

    Or, to put it another way ... if *I* were running a terror cell, and I wanted to know what capabilities the security services had, I'd get a complete numpty to try something like this too. Then I'd know what NOT to do when it's for real.

    You know all those dodgy "cannabis factories" the police like to boast about busting. With a couple of disposable "gardeners" and the most inefficient grow I've ever seen ? And there are always so many of them ????? It shouldn't take a rocket scientist to work out that pointing 5-10 police officers per house at a spread of 100 decoy grows is a great way of keeping them well away from your legitimately rented, staffed and operated industrial-unit mega grow.

    It's also worth noting that in the UK, the police have learned that courts tend to insist on provenance of evidence. (It was a hard lesson, they grew up in an age when "policeman says" was enough). This means even as they are planning an operation, they are running a parallel evidence chain, which is what they will present in public.

    Case in hand was a bunch of would be jihadis stopped a couple of years ago just outside Brum for a "routine traffic stop" because their car was flagged as uninsured. However the police let slip that they had an armed unit at the scene who "just happened" to discover the cache of guns and explosives in the boot. Of course the car wasn't uninsured at all. But the *logged* police check of it (via MID) said it was in the split second they ran a check, giving them reasonable suspicion. Of course a few moments later, it was correctly showing as insured again. Glitch in the system ? It happens, sir. Sorry for the inconvenience.

    What ? You think it's made up ? Get real, peeps.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: So, that's the security services tested ...

      Hmmmm, did you mean this incident ?????

      Interesting notion.

      So Brit police use a database to flag up cars to stop, which is probable cause for a search ? And then go to court saying "the computer said so" without anyone being able to challenge whether the computer was actually working properly at the time ?

      Wow. And we thought you were dumbass limeys.

  19. herman

    Well, the guy is sick alright. Whether he is sikh or muslim, is another matter.

    1. Fluffy Cactus

      At the very least, the guy seems to be a bit old to act like a 10 year old who wants to build a rocket with

      a chemistry set, which was possible and legal back in the 1960's, in a small European county. But it of course was rather stupid, as we could have hurt or killed ourselves and others.

      At that age I and my brother learned that a rocket made of several rolled up newspapers paper, using

      weedkiller and aluminum paint powder, and a couple other ingredients, has serious burn-thru issues. And since "dumb luck was the only guidance system" our rocket had, it ended up landing in the neighbors vegetable garden and destroyed a couple tomato plants. Our dad had to pay for the plants, and we tried to stay out of sight for several days. All the required parts and supplies were available to anyone, even kids, at garden and hobby stores. Fifty or sixty years on, and we could be considered not just stupid kids, but terrorists, and end up in jail, and such.. Just because we were inspired by the

      Apollo Space program.

      This story did not make into my "What I did on my summer vacation" assignment.

  20. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Sikhs are a good laugh.

    Whitwick is Wolverhampton; the very, very nice bit. (I know, I know, it sounds like an oxymoron)

    Largest ethnic group here are Sikhs; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sikhism_in_England

    I'm surprised by him; they normally like a pint and a laugh. They have a proud boast then when fighting the British in India their reputation for being fearless warriors was because they were off their tits on opium.

    Anon because any post about a group causes RighteousAnguish™ and frankly, nauseating virtue posturing.

  21. Potemkine! Silver badge

    "Idiots dare everything...

    ...That's how we recognise them"

  22. Kevin McMurtrie Silver badge
    Mushroom

    Occam's razor

    Maybe he really hated his car.

    1. James O'Shea

      Re: Occam's razor

      If he hated it that much he should have just pulled a 'Hacksaw' Reynolds and cut it up by hand.

  23. shawnfromnh

    He seems middle eastern and I'm shocked I say, just shocked.

    1. Androgynous Cupboard Silver badge

      West Midlands is the middle west, not middle east. Middle eastern would be Cambridgeshire. Do keep up.

  24. anonymous boring coward Silver badge

    "The plod waited until he tried to test the device"

    Almost makes you wish it was a real device. Depending on how he tested it of course. But given his intelligence I bet he would have blow himself sky high.

  25. Kiwi
    Mushroom

    Maybe not so guilty.

    Stop hovering over that downvote button and think a minute..

    From the article :

    " The plod waited until he tried to test the device and arrested him..."

    And two others released without charge...

    Now, anyone who has driven the model of car I drive would know the desire to see it die in a spectacular fashion, the move violence (to the car) the better.

    Anyone who's had the experiences I had as a youth knows "explosions are fun" (mostly TV, some farm-based (not counting the electronics failures).

    If I thought there was a chance I could get away with it, and I had access to the money needed (inc for a replacement car), my car would disappear in a beautiful flash of flame followed by a rain of tiny bits of metal and other stuff. Maybe after it burned for an hour or two first.

    As the saying goes, "Jamie wants big boom". And one kid got what many of us want as well, thanks to the Mythbusters crew - he wanted his parents POS car to "disappear" in a massive explosion.

    Perhaps this was the accused's desire - he did not want to do anything malicious he just wanted to make his car go away.

    Oh, and on the farm I got to play some with theories I'd been thinking of during high school chemistry - just how effective some chemicals were in the removal of annoyances (tree stumps, fence posts, the old cow shed, the rotting carcass of the girl who fell down the steep slope (pro tip - full monsoon gear and umbrella IS NOT ENOUGH!)...)

    1. Kiwi
      Facepalm

      Re: Maybe not so guilty.

      just how effective some chemicals were in the removal of annoyances (tree stumps, fence posts, the old cow shed, the rotting carcass of the girl who fell down the steep slope (pro tip - full monsoon gear and umbrella IS NOT ENOUGH!)...)

      Er, should've been a bit more careful here! "Girl" in this case of course refers to a cow, NOT something of a 2-legged variety.

      Since we couldn't leave the carcass where it was, and we couldn't bring it back up the slope, it was decided we would use a somewhat improvised "manure spreader" system and give her a quick viking-ish send off.

      Learnt very quickly that there really is no such thing as "too much protection" when it comes to stopping rotting cow flesh getting places you want after it has met a nice (if somewhat oversized) pile of explosives.

  26. Unicornpiss
    Coat

    "..posted it to his address"

    Aren't they usually delivered by car?

  27. Rtbcomp

    You mean he was going to test a car bomb? I thought these devices were single use only.

    1. Kiwi

      You mean he was going to test a car bomb? I thought these devices were single use only.

      Part of why I was thinking he was effectively innocent of any malicious/terrorist motives. Perhaps he had the same feelings about his car as I do, and the "test" was really a case of "FOAD you POS!"

      Perhaps he wanted to prove that his car quite literally was a bomb.

  28. Captain Boing
    Mushroom

    All these apologists on here! The author did mention Ockham's razor.

  29. Jtom

    There are over fifty Muslim-majority countries. Before coming to any conclusions about Muslims, or comparing them to Western countries, you should look at the laws of those countries (I am assuming you have a reasonable knowledge of the laws in Western countries). I guarantee you will have a much better understanding of the world. I leave it up to you as to whether that understanding makes you more accepting or less, but more knowledge is never a bad thing, regardless of where it may lead.

  30. HellOnWheelz

    Inquiring minds want to know....

    "The plod waited until he tried to test the device"

    Exactly how does one go about "testing" a car bomb (other than the obvious)?

  31. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Doggies!

    Maybe he was caught as a result of a simple sniffer dog spotting the package in transit.

    Never underestimate the ability of a highly motivated bow-wow when there are treats in the offing.

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