Liverpool Women's Hospital bombing

On 14 November 2021, at approximately 10:59 am GMT, an explosion occurred inside a taxi as it arrived in front of the main entrance of the Liverpool Women's Hospital in Liverpool, England. The driver left the vehicle seconds later and ran to safety, after which a fire badly burned the car.[2] The explosion was caused by an improvised explosive device which was carried by the taxi's passenger,[3] who was killed in the incident.[4][5][6] The taxi driver was admitted to hospital, with injuries including an ear needing to be sewn back on,[7] but was released the following day.[8] Merseyside Police attended the scene, along with fire and ambulance crews; they were accompanied by the Royal Logistic Corps' Bomb Squad. The hospital was placed under a lockdown, roads were closed and a cordon was in place around the hospital by the evening,[9] and armed police maintained a presence.

Geography of events, including the route of the taxi journey.[10]

The passenger's motivation for carrying the device was not immediately known. One theory emerged that he was intending to walk to Liverpool's Anglican cathedral and detonate his device as the congregation left.[10] The Independent questioned whether there was a "connection between the timing of the incident and the fact that it occurred on Remembrance Sunday, with the associated minute's silence usually observed at 11 am".[11] The hospital is a short distance from the cathedral, where the remembrance service was taking place attended by thousands of veterans and military personnel with a subsequent parade.[7] On this, the police said one line of enquiry was whether the event was linked to nearby remembrance events.[7]

It was established that the taxi driver picked up the passenger in Rutland Avenue, approximately 10 minutes drive from the hospital. Early reports suggested that on arrival he locked the doors of his vehicle on his passenger before it went up in flames, although a Counterterrorism spokesman noted that officers had not yet spoken to the driver as of Sunday evening.[12]

Police subsequently confirmed that the fire had been caused by the ignition of a home-made explosive device.[13] Merseyside Police armed units raided a property in the Sefton Park area, although the BBC reported that police had not confirmed whether the two incidents were related.[14] Three men aged 29, 26, and 21 were arrested in Liverpool in the early morning of the next day, under the Terrorism Act.[9][15] Police later said the arrests were a direct response to the attack.[7] A fourth man, aged 20, was arrested the next day, 15 November.[16][17][18] The arrest of the fourth man turned into a siege at the property he was in, and police negotiators were deployed.[19] This arrest was supported by United Kingdom Special Forces.[20] A number of houses in the Sefton Park area were evacuated. The Independent noted that this was a "usual precaution ... where explosive materials are suspected or found".[7] A controlled explosion was carried out in the middle of Sefton Park, "a few hundred metres" from the house in Rutland Avenue where bomb-making equipment was discovered.[21][22] The four arrested men were released on 15 November, the police saying "We are satisfied with the accounts they have provided and they have been released from police custody".[23]

The driver was widely praised by members of the public and media following the incident, with some calling him a "hero" for stopping al-Swealmeen from getting inside the hospital by locking the doors of his taxi.[36][37][38] Prime Minister Boris Johnson congratulated the driver, saying "it does look as though the taxi driver in question did behave with incredible presence of mind and bravery".[12] On 15 November 2021, the police declared the explosion a terrorist incident,[17][39] and the UK terror threat level was raised from substantial to severe.[2][note 1] MI5 joined the investigation on the same day of the incident in a support role for the local police,[12] while COBRA met on the morning of 15 November.[41]

Home Secretary Priti Patel said that the bombing showed that Britain's asylum system is "dysfunctional" and that a "merry-go-round" of appeals by lawyers was keeping failed asylum seekers in the country.[42]

At the official inquest at Liverpool and Wirral Coroner's Court on 30 December 2021, the senior coroner recorded a narrative conclusion, saying that al-Swealmeen had carried the improvised device into the taxi, after making it in his flat. He added: "It is found he manufactured the improvised explosive device, designed to project shrapnel, with murderous intent." The inquest also heard that Perry, the taxi driver, had been thrown forwards by the explosion and blacked out for a couple of seconds after the blast.[31]