The suicide bomber, who blew himself up in a car explosion out Liverpool Women's Hospital on Sunday, November 14, allegedly plotted the 'massacre' as revenge for not getting permanent asylum in the UK, MailOnline reports. The bomber, who was an Iraqi-Syrian seeker in the UK, targeted a Remembrance Day service in Liverpool but after getting stuck in traffic diverted the cab to the Liverpool Woman's Hospital.
The suspect is understood to have built the 'Mother of Satan' ball-bearing bomb at home in Liverpool. These kinds of bombs are generally used by ISIS to cause 'maximum carnage,' MailOnline reports. The British security sources informed that the suspect had settled in Britain from the Middle east several years ago and that the MI5 had no idea of his existence before the bombing.
Revenge plan
The suicide bomber, identified as 32-year-old Enzo Almeni, a Muslim who converted to Christianity four years ago arrived in Britain claiming to be of Syrian and Iraqi heritage. However, British security sources believe him to have come from Jordan. He reportedly lived in Britain for seven years without being deported.
The time of his arrival in Britain is not known at the moment. He first came to the notice of the authorities after being arrested for possession of a 'large knife' after his asylum claim was rejected in 2014. As a result, he was sectioned under the Mental Health Act and hospitalized for several months.
It is understood that ever since the incident, Almeni was involved in a long-term dispute with the Home Office regarding his application for UK residential status. He is believed to have been living at a hostel for asylum seekers, in Sutcliffe Street, Liverpool, until recently, before renting a flat in Rutland Avenue, where, he reportedly built the bomb. According to The Sun, a security source stated that they're looking at whether this "unresolved grievance pushed him over the edge and prompted him to carry out the attack."
The bomber lived with a Christian couple
Almeni was taken in by Christian couple Malcolm and Elizabeth Hitchcott after he converted from Islam and lived with them at their home in Aigburth for eight months. The couple noted that Almeni had mental health issues and that they had lost touch with him recently. Malcolm, a former British Army soldier, told DailyMail he felt "numbed" upon learning that the "lovely man" who lived at his home for eight months was behind the explosion. "It's almost too impossible to believe," he said. "There was nothing to suggest he could go on to become radicalized."
The couple further described Almeni as a "very quiet fellow" said that there was "never any suggestion of anything amiss." Elizabeth noted that Almeni converted to Christianity and was baptized and confirmed in Liverpool Cathedral in March 2017. "He first came to the cathedral in August 2015 and wanted to convert to Christianity," she said. "He changed from Islam to Christianity and was confirmed as a Christian by at least March 2017, just before he came to live with us. He was destitute at that time and we took him in," she added.
