72-year-old ex-soldier chased alleged bomber

[Batgirl]

By Sally Peck and Matthew Moore

A 72-year-old former soldier, who trained in ammunitions testing, defied his age to chase one of the alleged July 21 bombers as he fled from the London Underground, a court heard today.


CCTV footage showing Ramzi Mohammed being chased by passengers after they got off the Underground train at Oval

Arthur Burton-Garbett, from Morden, chased the man from the Northern Line tube train down the platform and halfway up an escalator before stopping because he had "run out of steam", he told the court.

Woolwich Crown Court also heard today how an off-duty fireman confronted the alleged bomber on the train.

Six men, Ramzi Mohammed, 25, Yassin Omar, 26, Muktar Ibrahim, 28, Hussain Osman, 28, Manfo Asiedu, 33, and Adel Yahya, 24, all from London, deny conspiracy to murder and conspiracy to cause explosions.

An off-duty fireman today told the court of the moment one of the alleged July 21 bombers partially detonated a rucksack bomb on a busy London tube train.

Angus Campbell described how Ramzi Mohammed started shouting and swearing when the device went off incorrectly, then kept saying "this is wrong, this is wrong".

Mr Campbell told Woolwich Crown Court that he had been "cowed" by the loud explosion on the Northern Line between Stockwell and Oval, then engulfed in smoke.

"I remember my arm being over my head. I looked up through my arm - the first thing I remember seeing is Mr Mohammed, who was screaming and shouting, and there was smoke issuing from behind him, from his back and I think to the floor," he said.

"My first reaction was to run away. I wanted to run away."

After helping a woman with a young child away from the scene, Mr Campbell then addressed the alleged bomber. The court was shown around a minute of CCTV footage which showed Mr Campbell gesticulating at Mohammed and pointing to the floor.

When the train finally pulled into Oval station, the alleged bomber was able to escape, Mr Campbell said.

"He ran to his right, he turned right and I can remember him looking at me as he ran past me. As he went past me, he waved his hand as a sort of sending off gesture - perhaps I could have intercepted him."

Mr Campbell said that he shouted at other people to stop him. A few put out their arms but "the adrenaline in him was so ... intense", and he managed to escape, he told the court.

The trial continues.

Telegraph

[SGRock]

We need more 72 year olds like that in the world. Maybe the "New Generation" can learn a few lessons from them instead of thinking of them as greeters at Wal Mart.