By KUNA,
London : An Islam convert suspected of carrying a bomb which partially exploded in a city centre restaurant and left him covered in blood is in a stable condition in hospital, police said Sunday.
The man, named by police as 22-year-old Nicky Reilly, suffered eye and facial injuries in the blast at the “Giraffe” restaurant in Exeter, Devon, south-west England, last Thursday lunchtime.
Reilly, from Plymouth, Devon, south-west England, has been in the Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital, in Exeter, with police at his bedside, since his arrest at the scene of the blast in Exeter’s 230 million pounds showpiece “Princesshay” shopping centre.
“He has not been formally interviewed,” said a police spokesman.
It is not yet known when Reilly will be released from the hospital. It is understood he has undergone an operation which is believed to have involved skin grafts.
Meanwhile, the police are still questioning two men seized by armed police outside a cafe in Plymouth, Devon, last Friday.
One of the men was arrested when 10 armed officers descended on the cafe, and another was detained to help with their inquiries.
The police added that inquiries were still going on at the Giraffe restaurant, and at the flat where Reilly lived.
The bomb set off in the Giraffe restaurant would have released a giant fireball had it ignited, they said.
The device was made from a variety of chemical ingredients and packed with nails and was designed to detonate when it was shaken, Reilly emerged from the Giraffe cafe “covered in blood” when the bomb failed to go off.
Two other devices were found nearby and made safe by bomb disposal experts.
Reilly had received a text message of encouragement before he left on the failed mission, the police revealed.
The police believe extremists took advantage of Reilly’s low IQ (intelligence) and history of mental illness to radicalise him.
He had changed his name to Mohammed Rasheed, and had a screen saver of the Twin Towers in flames from the 9/11 attacks on his home computer, neighbours said.