A RAVENSTHORPE teenager accused of plotting to blow up the BNP told a jury his arrest under the Terrorism Act came "out of the blue".
Describing his arrest in September last year, Waris Ali said: "I really wasn't expecting it. I was getting ready for going to college. I was told to get out of bed and they arrested me. It was out of the blue. Basically I was pretty scared at the tim
e, especially when they handcuffed me and took me to the police station."
During a 'safety interview' after his arrest Ali told police where they would find chemicals in his bedroom that could harm 'if used improperly'.
He said that with Eid coming up he had bought the chemicals from ebay because he heard they made bonfires and fireworks 'more exciting', the court was told.
But in 14 other interviews, where a solicitor was present, he made no comment.
The prosecution say Ali and co-defendant Dabeer Hussain planned to spy on the BNP and blow them up.
Both had copies of the Proper Anarchist's Cookbook, which has instructions for making bombs and detonators, on their home computers.
Ali also had containers of calcium chloride and potassium nitrate, which can be used to make smoke bombs and pyrotechnic effects.
Forensic case officer Anne Marie Sykes told Leeds Crown Court that smoke bombs could explode 'violently' if set alight in a container and cause potentially 'fatal injuries' from shrapnel if a large enough quantity was used.
But Ali told jurors that a comment about finding the BNP and blowing them up, made by Hussain during an internet chat, was meant in a "jokey manner".
He said they had only talked about spying on the BNP in October 2006.
He said: "I thought I could somehow get the gadgets needed, somehow tap their phones, get the conversation recorded, something incriminating, and then post it on YouTube or get it to the BBC."
Asked what his feelings about the BNP were at that time, he said he didn't like the party or what it stood for.
The court also heard that Ali and Hussain's friendship ended in December that year when Ali and Hussain's older sister Aisha were caught together by Hussain's mother.
Ali, 18, of Dearnley Street, denies three charges of possessing articles for a terrorist purpose.
Hussain, 18, of Clarkson Street, Ravensthorpe, denies one count of possessing an article for a terrorist purpose.
The trial continuesThe full article contains 416 words and appears in Dewsbury Reporter newspaper.
