Bristol man guilty of plotting suicide bombing of shopping mall

London: A former public schoolboy was found guilty of plotting to carry out a suicide bombing using a vest packed with explosives at a shopping centre in Bristol.

Eisa Ebrahim, 20, made viable explosives, manufactured a suicide vest and carried out reconnaissance on the Broadmead shopping centre. Detectives believe he was about to launch an attack.

Police are heralding the case as a breakthrough as they say it is the first in which the information about a British would-be terrorist planning an atrocity in the UK has come just from a Muslim community.

Ebrahim's extremism did not come to the attention of the police until members of a mosque he attended grew worried about his behaviour and went to Avon and Somerset police.

Ebrahim was found guilty of making an explosive with intent to danger life or cause serious injury to property. He was also convicted of preparing terrorist acts by purchasing material to make an explosive, making that explosive, buying material to detonate the explosive, carrying out reconnaissance before the act, and "making an improvised suicide vest".

The trial has heard that when Ebrahim was arrested at his flat, the homemade explosive HMTD was found in a biscuit tin in the fridge. Also found was an electrical circuit capable of detonating the explosive at short range and a suicide vest hanging on the back of his bedroom door.

The trial heard that Ebrahim, whose parents are Christian, converted to Islam, changing his name by deed poll from Andrew to Eisa. He became radicalised after researching people such as Abu Hamza, and became fascinated by suicide bombing.

Ebrahim used the internet to find instructions on how to make explosives from household products such as hydrogen peroxide.

He claimed he had no intent to harm, but just wanted to set the vest off and film it for the video website YouTube.

Judge Justice Butterfield told the jury the prosecution's case was that he was a "disturbed" and "alienated" adolescent.

The defence's case was that Ebrahim was a "weak, lonely figure living in a fantasy world".