Update from Counter Terrorism Police North West following Liverpool car explosion

Assistant Chief Constable Russ Jackson, Head of Counter Terrorism Police North West said: "We continue to make significant progress in relation to the CT Incident at the Liverpool Women's Hospital.

"Officers spoke with the brother of Al Swealmeen yesterday evening and this has given us an insight into his early years and an understanding of Al Swealmeen's life and his recent state of mind which is an important line of investigation. We are grateful for members of the public who knew him and have contacted us.

"Although there is much scientific work to do on the device to determine what made it up, we have learned a great deal over the past five days.

"It was made using homemade explosive and had ball bearings attached to it which would have acted as shrapnel. Had it detonated in different circumstances we believe it would have caused significant injury or death.

"We still do not know how or why the device exploded when it did, but we are not discounting it being completely unintentional, and it is a possibility that the movement of the vehicle or its stopping caused the ignition.

"We are spending considerable time seeking to understand the way the purchases for the ingredients to make the device were made. This is complicated because purchases have spanned many months and Al Swealmeen has used many aliases. We are confident however that in time we will get a full picture of what purchases were made and how, and if anyone else was involved or knew what Al Swealmeen was up to.

"We have found no connection between this incident and the terrible events of Manchester in May 2017. The device was also different to the one used in the Manchester Arena Attack.

"The investigation is still moving at a very fast pace and will continue into the weekend and the coming weeks."

"At this time we are not finding any link to others in the Merseyside area of concern but this remains a fast moving investigation and as more becomes known we cannot rule out action against others."

Anyone who has any information should call on 0161 856 1027 quoting Liverpool Women's Hospital incident.

Details can be passed to the independent charity Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.

We have said for many years that Communities Defeat Terrorism, and the help and support we get from the public is a vital part of that. So we would urge everyone to remain vigilant, and if you do see anything suspicious then please report it, in confidence, to police via the Anti-terrorist hotline or gov.uk/ACT. It won’t ruin lives, but it may well save them.