Liverpool terror attack suspect reportedly had asylum claim rejected and suffered mental health issues

The suspected terrorist who blew himself up outside Liverpool Women’s Hospital was reportedly a failed asylum seeker who had suffered with mental health issues.

Police identified the suspect behind Sunday’s attack as 32-year-old Emad Al Swealmeen on Monday.

He moved to the UK after seeking asylum from the Middle East several years ago and had mental health issues, Sky News understands.

He later converted from Islam to Christianity and was not thought to have been known to MI5.

An unnamed source quoted in The Sun said one issue being considered is whether he was motivated by an “unsolved grievance” with the Home Office over a bid to become a UK resident in 2014.

Malcolm Hitchcott, who along with his wife Elizabeth had taken Al Swealmeen into their home to live with them, said the suspect came to Liverpool’s Anglican Cathedral in 2015 and wanted to convert to Christianity.

He told the Sun: “He was destitute at that time and we took him in.

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“The UK asylum people were never convinced he was Syrian and he was refused asylum in 2014.

“He had his case rejected because he has been sectioned due to some mental health incident where he was waving a knife at people from an overpass.”

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Al Swealmeen reportedly converted from Islam to Christianity at the city’s Anglican Cathedral in 2017.

Mrs Hitchcott told the BBC: “We’re just so, so sad. We just loved him, he was a lovely guy.”

She said the couple were “very” shocked.

Speaking to the Daily Telegraph, Mr Hitchcott said: “He was very quiet but deeply moved by faith in Jesus. I used to pray every day for half an hour in the dining room with him. I don’t think he was pretending about his faith.”

He told ITV: “I mean he lived here for eight months, and we were living cheek by jowl. There was never any suggestion of anything amiss.”

The couple described Al Swealmeen as artistic and a motor racing fan. He was reported to have changed his name to Enzo after the racing driver Enzo Ferrari.

The Sun reported that he was a Jordanian national who had spent some time in Iraq, where his mother was from.

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Home Office minister Damian Hinds told Sky News that counter-terrorism police were discovering “more by the hour” but cautioned it could be weeks before the full picture of what happened emerges.

He said it was right to be concerned about “lone wolf” figures who had been radicalised during the pandemic.

He said: “We use the term lone wolf a lot, sometimes it’s a bit… it can be a little misleading because it gives a certain picture of an individual, but it certainly is true that we’ve seen a move over time, a shift from these what we call directed attacks, part of a bigger organisation where people are following instructions, sometimes quite complex in their organisation, and move from that to more self-directed, some self-radicalised individuals or small groups, rarely totally, totally alone.”

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Officers believe Al Swealmeen was the male passenger who brought a homemade bomb into a taxi and asked to be taken to the hospital shortly before 11am on Remembrance Sunday.

He was picked up in the Rutland Avenue area of the city and the bomb exploded as the car reached the hospital’s passenger drop-off point.

The cab driver, David Perry, was treated in hospital after he managed to escape the car just before it burst into flames. He has now been discharged.

The UK terror threat level was raised from substantial to severe in the aftermath of the explosion, meaning an attack is “highly likely” rather than just “likely”.

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Police were searching properties in Rutland Avenue on Monday, where Al Swealmeen was picked up, as well as a second address in Sutcliffe Street where officers believe he previously lived.

Detective Chief Inspector Andrew Meeks said: “Our inquiries are very much ongoing but at this stage we strongly believe that the deceased is 32-year-old Emad Al Swealmeen.

“Al Swealmeen is connected to both the Rutland Avenue and Sutcliffe Street addresses where searches are still ongoing.

“We believe he lived at the Sutcliffe Street address for some time and had recently rented the Rutland Avenue address.

“Our focus is the Rutland Avenue address where we have continued to recover significant items.

“We continue to appeal for any information about this incident and, now that we have released his name, any information that the public may have about Al Swealmeen no matter how small may be of great assistance to us.”

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