Man jailed for pipe bomb in hand luggage at Manchester Airport

A man who tried to smuggle a pipe bomb onto a flight from Manchester Airport has been jailed for 18 years.

Nadeem Muhammad, 43, was convicted of possessing an explosive with intent to endanger life after the device was found in his hand luggage as he prepared to board a Ryanair flight to Italy.

Security officers uncovered the bomb - made of masking tape, batteries, pins and wires - in the zip lining of his suitcase on January 30.

But Muhammad was initially released on the day of the discovery after a series of "errors" in the assessment of the device.

He was then allowed to board a flight to Italy just five days later, and was only arrested on February 12 upon returning to the UK via Manchester Airport.

Muhammad, who claimed he had never seen the device before, was found guilty by a jury at Manchester Crown Court.

After being stopped by counter-terrorism police at the airport earlier this year, Muhammad was released when officers deemed the bomb as not being viable.

He returned to Manchester Airport twice more: the following day to collect his mobile phone and on February 5 to board a flight to Bergamo, near Milan.

It was only on February 8, when forensic officers determined the device discovered in Muhammad's suitcase was suspicious, that the alarm was raised.

Jurors heard he had been planning on detonating the device once on board a Boeing 737.