A financial analyst stored chemicals and electric circuitry that could be used to build explosive devices, a jury at the Old Bailey was told.

Asad Bhatti also worked on a computer handbook that included the subject “Jihad and Martyrdom”, the court heard.
Bhatti, 48, from Redhill, denies making and possessing explosives for terrorist purposes.
A computer shop owner contacted police about the contents of Mr Bhatti’s laptop he was given to repair.
Prosecutor Karen Robinson said an analysis of Mr Bhatti’s laptop revealed “a significant library of materials which detailed, with precision, how to manufacture explosive devices”.
A police search then found a large number of items at the defendant’s home in Redhill, and at a storage unit in Smallfield, Surrey.

These included chemicals, electric circuitry which could be used to make explosive devices, a home-made explosive device and improvised “black powder” explosive, the court was told.
Ms Robinson said the circumstances of the defendant’s “admitted experimentation”, together with documents found in his electronic library, gave rise to a suspicion they were connected with terrorism.

“The prosecution case is that the defendant did not possess or make these items for any lawful purpose,” she said.
Mr Bhatti had visited the computer repair shop in Caterham, on 29 December 2020,
The jury was told he was reluctant to leave his laptop to be repaired and had asked the owner to “promise not to look at the data on the computer”.
As the shop owner copied the laptop’s hard drive he saw some of the files were named “explosions” and one folder was called “Explosive Business”, and alerted the authorities.
Police took a copy of the hard drive and also CCTV from the shop before the laptop was returned to Mr Bhatti, the court heard.
The “Explosives Business” folder was found to contain a diagram of a laboratory workspace linked to explosives including nitroglycerine and dynamite, and shelving for “guns and weapons”.
In a password-protected file called “Believer’s Handbook” were sections including “Jihad and Martyrdom” followed by “a simple guide to explosives”, “hand-to-hand combat” and “handguns and sniper rifles”.

Mr Bhatti denies two charges of possessing explosives, one count of making explosives and two counts of possessing articles for terrorist purposes.
The trial continues.

If you have news for Sussex and Surrey, contact us on news@susyradio.com