WOOLWICH A suitcase found buried near the home of an alleged terrorist bomb plotter contained materials for making the high explosive HMTD, a court was told.

Jurors at Woolwich Crown Court were shown the items in the case, which was found by police searching woodland in High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, in 2006. They included glass flasks, syringes, thermometers, the chemical hexamine (a key ingredient for the explosive), hydrogen peroxide and a bag of citric acid. Officers had previously seen Assad Sarwar going into King’s Wood and observed him buying a spade and a suitcase.

Jurors were told that DNA found on the flasks matched the profile of Mr Sarwar, who is one of eight men accused of plotting to bomb seven transatlantic airliners en route from Heathrow to six North American cities. Mr Sarwar, 27, Ahmed Abdulla Ali, 27, Tanvir Hussain, 27, Arafat Waheed Khan, 26, Ibrahim Savant, 27, Waheed Zaman, 23, Umar Islam, 29, and Mohammed Gulzar, 26, deny conspiracy to murder and conspiracy to cause explosions on an aircraft. The trial continues.

Times Recommends

• Tree stump 'shows image of Virgin Mary'
• BBC drops Strictly judge for younger model
• Trafalgar Square 'reduced to a spectacle'