Suspects 'hired rikshaws' to flee spots

London: Two men who tried to carry out car bombings in central London last year escaped the scene in rickshaws, Woolwich Crown Court heard on Friday.

Bilal Abdullah, 29, and Kafeel Ahmad, 28, took the pedal-powered cabs after they had left two Mercedes cars packed with gas canisters, fuel containers and nails outside a club and at a bus stop nearby.

CCTV caught Ahmad dumping an umbrella he was carrying in an apparent attempt to shield his face from cameras, prosecutor Jonathan Laidlaw said.

He then took a rickshaw from Piccadilly Circus while Abdullah was also seen using the same method to get away, the court heard. The two men then met up in Edgware Road shortly after 2am, 30 minutes after the attempted bombings.

Laidlaw said the first car bomb was discovered by staff at the Tiger Tiger nightclub. The second car was given a parking ticket and then towed away to a nearby pound. Police made it safe after realising it too had been rigged with bombs.