A Ukrainian man has pleaded guilty to murdering a Muslim
pensioner and plotting to carry out a string of explosions near mosques.
Pavlo Lapshyn, a postgraduate student from Dnipropetrovsk, appeared at the
Old Bailey charged with the murder of 82-year-old grandfather Mohammed Saleem
as he walked home from a mosque in Birmingham in April.
He also admitted causing an explosion on July 12 near the Kanzal Iman mosque
in Tipton, and engaging in conduct in preparation of terrorist acts between
April 24 and July 18 this year.
This included planting bombs near mosques in Walsall and Wolverhampton,
researching locations to plant bombs and buying chemicals on the internet to
make explosives.
The 25-year-old, who has a hatred of "non-whites", will be
sentenced on Friday.
The Ukrainian was in the UK on a sponsored work placement at a software firm
in the Small Heath area of Birmingham when he was arrested on suspicion of Mr
Saleem's murder nearby on July 20.
The father-of-seven was stabbed three times yards from his house on April
29, prompting an outpouring of grief from the community.
- While Lapshyn remained at large, he plotted the planting of devices near three mosques as part of a campaign he said was motivated by racial hatred. No one was injured by any of the explosions.
- Detective Superintendent Shaun Edwards, from the West Midlands Counter Terrorism Unit, said: "We found part-made devices in Lapshyn's room plus chemicals and bomb-making equipment, so it is clear he planned to place further devices with the intention of killing or maiming innocent members of the public.
- "All three of the devices he detonated were powerful but his final attack in Tipton was the first to feature shrapnel and nails. He placed this near the mosque's car park with the intention of hitting worshippers as they arrived for prayers.
- "Thankfully the service had been put back an hour so the mosque was largely deserted when the bomb went off.
- In interview Lapshyn stressed he was acting alone, not part of a wider cell or influenced by any group, and was keen to take credit for masterminding and carrying out the attacks.
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