Parsons Green: Police still not sure whether Tube bomber was acting alone following teen arrest

An 18-year-old is being held in a London custody centre after being detained by anti-terror police in Dover port departure lounge. 
Chloe Chaplain16 September 2017
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The teenager arrested on suspicion of planting the Parsons Green bomb was detained in the departure area of the port of Dover, Scotland Yard has revealed.

The 18-year-old was arrested on suspicion of preparing a terrorist act, sparking the evacuation of the ferry terminal on Saturday morning.

Detectives investigating the attack are “keeping an open mind” as to whether the Tube bomber was acting alone or as part of a wider network of terrorists.

Deputy Assistant Commissioner Neil Basu said the terror threat level in the UK would remain at “crticial”, indicating another attack could be likely.

Terror attack: Armed police patrol in Westminster Underground station as the terror threat remains at critical
Getty Images

Following the arrest of the teenager, anti-terror police raided a home in Sunbury-on-Thames in Surrey.

According to the Press Association, the residential address is home to foster care couple Penelope and Ronald Jones, who have received MBEs for services to children and families.

Raid: An investigator stands outside a house after residents were evacuated
AFP/Getty Images

The Surrey property is registered to Mr and Mrs Jones, 88 and 71, who were honoured by the Queen in 2009.

Long time family friend Serena Barber, 45, said that the Joneses had fostered dozens of children.

Search: Forensic officers taking part in an operation in Sunbury-on-Thames
PA

She said: "Penny's a wonderful foster mother. She takes everyone, she doesn't turn anyone away."

Residents in surrounding addresses on Cavendish Road were evacuated from their homes shortly after 1.40pm as police continued to scour the property.

On the street, residents were rushed from their homes by armed police. They were allowed back into their homes at 8pm.

Mother-of-three Mojgan Jamali, among those forced to flee, told the Press Association: "I was in my house with my children and there was a knock at the door from the police.

"They told me to leave. They said: 'You have one minute to get out of the house and get away.'

"I just got out, I got my three children and we left the house and the street.

Nearby Staines Rugby Club has been opened as a rest centre for evacuees, with an estimated 150 to 200 people already said to have been welcomed through its doors.

Bomb: 30 people were injured when the improvised explosive device was detonated on a packed Tube carriage
Kerry Davies/Daily Mail

Mr Basu said: "Our priorities are to ensure the address in Sunbury is safe, and to identify and locate any other potential suspects."

He added his team were "quickly and thoroughly searching that address" and "working to ensure it is safe"

Residents were allowed home at 8pm after they had given their names and proof of address to police.

They were told once they were in their houses they must stay there unless absolutely necessary, and sign in and out of the cordon until it was lifted if they had to leave.

Mr Basu told reporters that, following the arrest, officers from Kent Police evacuated the port of Dover just after 11.40am.

“That work is now complete and they have recovered a number of items during that search,” he said.

Parsons Green explosion incident on the Tube - In pictures

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The suspect is now being held at a London police station after being arrested by Kent Police.

Mr Basu said: "At this stage we are keeping an open mind over whether more than one person is responsible for the attack and we are still pursuing numerous lines of inquiry and at great pace."

​Echoing the earlier words of Home Secretary Amber Rudd, he added: "All I am prepared to say at the moment is it is a very significant arrest, but as I said we are open-minded.

"If there are other people responsible it's our job to find them and that is part of the reason that we are remaining at critical threat."

Arrest: police at Dover Port, where detectives investigating the Parsons Green bombing detained an 18-year-old man
PA

According to eyewitnesses, the suspect was seen being interrogated by two unarmed police officers moments before his arrest in Dover.

Tourist Daniel Vaselicu, 31, had been sitting with a friend in the waiting area at the ferry hub when he saw the man being approached by officers.

He appeared calm as the officers interrogated him for 10 minutes, leading Mr Vaselicu to believe he was simply homeless.

Bomb: The bucket believed to have caused the explosion at Parsons Green ()
Kett News

Mr Vaselicu told the Press Association: "We were in the seating area at the terminal, the police were interrogating this guy for around 10 minutes.

"It was around 7.30am, he was young, around 25 or under. He was white, not Arabic, but he wasn't English - there was only one person there.

"Then we went to the town centre, I wanted to smoke a cigarette and have some coffee, my opinion was that he was a homeless guy and that's why they were interrogating him.

"He was looking normal, not fighting or worried, concerned."

Thirty people were injured when the improvised device partially exploded on a District Line train at Parsons Green station during the Friday morning rush hour.

Three victims are still being treated at Chelsea and Westminster hospital, NHS England said.

Earlier the Home Secretary said it was "much too early to say" whether the bomber was part of the current security picture, following comments from US President Donald Trump that the culprit was known to Scotland Yard.

Explosion: commuters fled from the carriage when the bomb went off
Sylvian Pennec/Reuters

A key strand of the investigation has focused on CCTV as officers comb through footage to establish who planted the device, and when and where it was placed on the train.

The suspect was arrested at around 7.50am, in the port which is the busiest ferry hub in Europe and serves as a commercial gateway to the French coast, including Calais and Dunkirk.

Police have since identified 121 witnesses, of whom 100 have been spoken to, Mr Basu said.

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