Man jailed for UK mosque bomb plan

Steven Bishop planned to attack a London mosque as retribution for a suicide attack on a pop concert

Steven Bishop plotted to blow up a UK mosque using a home-made bomb. Metropolitan Police
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A man was jailed for four years on Wednesday after plotting to attack a mosque with a homemade bomb in a reprisal for a suicide bombing in 2017 that left 22 people dead.

Steven Bishop, 41, who had a history of mental health problems, made preparations to act after becoming fixated on the youngest victim of the suicide bombing at a pop concert in Manchester, northern England, in 2017.

Bishop had instructions on how to build explosives when he was arrested by police and had researched the Manchester, London and Paris terrorist attacks on his phone.

A court heard that he was planning to attack a mosque in Morden, south London, and had stockpiled commercial fireworks to make the device. A health worker contacted police after Bishop revealed plans for his attack.

Detectives discovered that he had visited a Facebook page run by a far-right group that pushes anti-Muslim messages to express his anger at the Manchester Arena attack. He had written: “Don’t worry something bad is going to happen soon mark my words”.

After his arrest he told police that he was “really upset” about the Manchester attack and added: “all I was saying is I think it would be justice if someone did to them what they do to us.”

“I hear voices. I heard the voice of a victim of the Manchester Arena bombing who told me to do this,” he told them.

He had previously admitted explosives and terror charges. His lawyers described him as an “unstable drug addict” and claimed that he was driven by his fixation for the young victim rather than being driven by right-wing ideology.