Failed asylum seeker who planted fake bomb outside MI5 headquarters jailed

"A 33-year-old Brazilian national, Julian Valente Pereira, carried out the bomb hoax at the security service's Thames House base in central London on January 1. The occurred the day after he received a deportation notice. Prosecutor Shannon Revel stated Pereira sought "maximum attention" for his grievances against the Home Office, following a protracted and unsuccessful attempt to remain in Britain."

"CCTV footage captured Pereira pushing paperwork related to his immigration case through the MI5 building's doors, before retrieving the imitation explosive from his bag. He threw it on the pavement with what appeared to be a fuse hanging out of the top of the brown cylinder. A bomb expert was called and found the device was made from rolled-up A4 paper, brown masking tape, and string."

"The court was told the defendant, who was living in an asylum hotel in Uxbridge, west London, had been diagnosed with bipolar disorder and schizophrenia. Giving evidence, Pereira said the device he left outside MI5 would not have been mistaken for an explosive. After a trial at City of London Magistrates' Court, Pereira was found guilty in February of placing an article with the intention of inducing another to believe the item was going to explode."

"Sentencing at the Old Bailey on Friday, Judge Mark Lucraft KC jailed him for two years and six months. The judge said the defendant may well be deported from the UK."

A 33-year-old Brazilian national, Julian Valente Pereira, planted a hoax explosive outside MI5 headquarters at Thames House in central London on January 1. The act occurred the day after he received a deportation notice following a long, unsuccessful attempt to remain in Britain. CCTV footage showed him pushing immigration paperwork through the building’s doors and then placing an imitation explosive on the pavement with a fuse-like element. A bomb expert determined the device was made from rolled-up A4 paper, brown masking tape, and string. Pereira was convicted of placing an article intended to make others believe it would explode. He was sentenced to two years and six months in prison, and the judge indicated he may be deported.

Read at www.independent.co.uk