The alleged July 21 terror plot was a hoax designed to frighten the public, Woolwich Crown Court was told yesterday.

Hussain Osman, 28, the alleged Shepherd’s Bush bomber, said that he was one of a group of Muslims who had mounted a “fake” attack in retaliation for the war in Iraq. In interviews after he was arrested, Mr Osman said that the explosives he was carrying were made the day before and were supposed only to make a noise.

Mr Osman fled to Italy after the innocent bystander Jean Charles de Menezes was shot dead by police on July 22, 2005. He was arrested in Rome on July 29 and questioned by the Italian authorities. The court was told he had lived in Italy before moving to Britain.

When questioned he admitted being involved in the plot on July 21, but maintained that the devices he and five other alleged bombers were carrying were not real bombs. Transcripts were read to the jury.

“We made some false, fake explosives to frighten people, to stop them, because of the [Iraq] war,” Mr Osman told police.

The court was told how Mr Osman said he was part of a group of Muslims who had planned the hoax. These included codefendants Yassin Hassan Omar, Muktar Said Ibrahim and Manfo Kwaku Asiedu.

He told police Mr Ibrahim and Mr Omar had the idea for the false attacks. “I said if this [hoax] could change things, I would do it,” Mr Osman said.

Mr Osman and five other defendants all deny charges of conspiracy to murder and conspiracy to cause explosions likely to endanger life. The trial continues.

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