CCTV footage of one of the alleged 21/7 bombers fleeing from London disguised in a burka a day after the failed attacks was shown to a jury yesterday.

The 6ft 2in (188cm) figure of Yassin Omar, dressed from head to toe in a black burka, could be seen with a white handbag over his left arm as he made his way with a woman to a London coach station.

Mr Omar boarded the 6.20pm National Express service to the Midlands, Woolwich Crown Court was told. Three hours later the bus arrived in Birmingham and he disembarked. He sat on a bench and waited until a red Nissan Sunny car pulled up, Max Hill, a junior prosecutor, said. He then got in and was driven away.

A day earlier Mr Omar is alleged to have tried to set off a homemade hydrogen peroxide bomb at Warren Street Underground station. He was arrested on July 27 in a dawn raid on a house in Birmingham.

The court was told yesterday that firearms officers nearly shot Mr Omar when they found him standing in a bath wearing what they feared was a rucksack filled with explosives.

The jury was told that, while being driven by police from Birmingham to London, he admitted being on the Tube at the time of the explosions but said that he did not want to hurt anyone.

Detective Constable David Hillier, who made the arrest, sat by his side in the back of the car during the 90-minute journey to the capital. Mr Omar wore a protective suit and had plastic bags on his hands and feet to preserve scientific evidence. When the officer asked Mr Omar if there was anything likely to cause anyone any harm, he is alleged to have replied: “No, I did not know what I was doing.”

Mr Omar allegedly said: “I was on the Tube at the time of the explosions. I did not know it was going to go off. I did not want to hurt anyone.” This version of events is disputed by the Mr Omar’s defence.

He said that he did not make the explosives and went to an alleyway near a shop to collect the rucksack, the court heard.

During cross-examination, Peter Carter, QC, accused the policeman of threatening the defendant and telling him that other prisoners would want to beat him up because of what he had allegedly tried to do.

Mr Hillier, a Met officer, denied this and the suggestion that he put his arm on Mr Omar’s shoulder when he asked him to sign notes he had made of their conversation.

Detective Constable Alistair Woods, who drove the police car, also denied any threats were made or that he copied Mr Hillier’s account of the conversation with Mr Omar.

The jury later heard that, during an interview at Paddington Green police station, Mr Omar said: “I was going to go home. I wanted to get engaged so I wanted my house to be painted and everything.” He allegedly told police: “They said: ‘take this, go home and we have a surprise for you’.” Mr Omar then said that he was on the Tube train chatting to some people when he heard a “pop”, the court was told.

“I panicked, I did not know what I had in the bag,” he told officers. He wondered whether he should have turned himself in to police, but “I thought, I’m just going to get blamed”.

Six men are accused of plotting to carry out a series of explosions on the London transport system. They are: Mr Omar, of New Southgate, North London, Hussain Osman, 28, of no fixed address; Muktar Said Ibrahim, 29, of Stoke Newington, North London; Manfo Kwaku Asiedu, 33, of no fixed address; Ramzi Mohammed, 25, of North Kensington, West London; and Adel Yahya, 24, of Tottenham, North London. They all deny charges of conspiracy to murder and conspiracy to cause explosions likely to endanger life.

The case continues.

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