Tube terror alert over ‘bomber’ in lawyer’s wig

A major terror alert was sparked on the London Underground when armed police were deployed to deal with a suspected suicide bomber.

The man was wearing a barrister's wig and had wires and batteries attached to his wrists which police feared was a detonator.

It is believed to be the first time that the Met has deployed armed officers under Operation Andromeda, Scotland Yard's new guidelines for dealing with the "spontaneous sighting of a suspected suicide bomber".

The alert has chilling echoes to the shooting dead of Jean Charles de Menezes at Stockwell Tube station following the 7/7 bombings in 2005.

In the latest case the suspect, who is said to be mentally ill, was followed by a police surveillance team after he was reported by a commuter at Green Park station.

The undercover police lost sight of the man as he switched trains but caught up with him again as he left the network at Finsbury Park.

Police followed the man to a house which they discovered was an NHS-run hostel for care in the community patients with mental health problems.

When the man emerged later, accompanied by two nurses, he was stopped in the street by police.
Anti-terrorist officers searched his room where they found the wig and a T-shirt with battery controlled flashing lights.

The man is said to have a fascination with electrical wiring. Sources say the man was given a warning after the drama on 8 February and his details have been circulated to police and Tube workers so they are aware of his identity if he repeats his behaviour.

One security official said: "He had a very lucky escape."