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The Exeter Bomber: Nicky Reilly And The Islamic Republic Of Cornwall

“BRAINWASHED at the chip shop,” screams the Sun’s front-page headline. Is this a chilling insight into the war on obesity? Why not? The tabloids are fond of linking themes, and if Madeleine McCann can somehow be placed at the scene and the chip wallah be persuaded to comment on how the rising cost of vegetable oil has forced him to cook in green diesel, then we have a story that says so much about today’s Britain. In King’s Fry fish and chip bar, the Sun sees Exeter toilet bomber Nicky Reilly being brainwashed by Muslim men. It was believed that Reilly, the Star’s “oddball loner”, was on the fringes of a group of radicals based in the West Country, a more heavily armed version of the Worzells, albeit exchanging combine harvesters for keys and ammunition. We should take care not to mock those sons of the West Country. Last year the Cornish National Liberation Army (CNLA) threatened to burn down one of celebrity chef Rick Stein’s businesses in Padstow. The group also said Fifteen - a restaurant set up by Essex product Jamie Oliver – was a legitimate target because Oliver was an “incomer” who was hurting local people by driving up house prices and living costs. Readers will note that Reilly’s device exploded in Giraffe, an eatery founded in Hampstead, London. Exeter is in Devon, granted, but Devon and Cornwall constabulary work in tandem and the CNLA claims links with Welsh nationalists and other “Celtic nations”. The Sun says that the relatively complex construction of the explosive devices suggests they were not put together by Reilly, “who has a very low IQ”. The Telegraph says they were constructed from sodium hydroxide, aluminium foil strips and an essential oil, combined with kerosene. It was confirmed that there were three devices in a bag packed with nails. Reilly’s bombs were dangerous, although Reilly, who has lacerations to his face, was more of danger to himself. But we wonder if his conversation to Islam is a smokescreen and t

Published: 2008-05-24
Provider: Anorak