Nicky was easy prey says mother

Kim Reilly has been in regular contact with her son Nicky since his arrest for trying to blow up a restaurant in Exeter in May.

She remains convinced he could not have planned the attack himself and puts his actions down to one thing, his conversion to Islam and the people it brought him into contact with.

Sitting in her living room, surrounded by photos of the son who bears a clear resemblance to her, she says he was an "easy target, easy prey" for radicalisation.

"He would have had to have instructions or guidance from someone," she says.

"There's no way Nicky's got the capability to do that.

Somebody has brainwashed him, he's done the work and they're walking free Kim Reilly

"He's so vulnerable, he's got special needs, he's got things like Asperger's syndrome."

Reilly was known as a "gentle giant" where he lived in the Stonehouse area of Plymouth.

But the home-made bomb the 22-year-old carried into the Giraffe Cafe in Exeter could have been deadly.

Dr Clifford Jones, a chemical engineer from the University of Aberdeen, said: "Although it might have been rather clumsily assembled it was a fairly ingenious device.

"It would have released hydrogen, which on ignition would have exploded.

Nicky has been in regular contact with his mother from prison

"Kerosene would have acted as an incendiary device, then there were the nails. But the primary hazard was fire."

In the event it was only Reilly who was injured when the bomb detonated in the cafe's toilets.

His mother admits he began to change because of "all the people that he was hanging around with".

Several years ago he converted to Islam and took the name Mohammed Abdulaziz Rashid Saeed-Alim.

"He believed that he was on the right path, he'd found the right religion and this was the right way of life.

"But Nicky could have met people from any faith, whether it be Buddhism, Hindu - if someone befriended him that would have been the path he would have taken."

'A religion thing'

She revealed that the man who would go on to try to blow up a busy restaurant started voicing increasingly extreme views.

"I became alarmed by some of the language he was using, [talking about] punishments and everything.

"With women, he believed that they should be punished as well."

A young Nicky Reilly in a family photo

After his conversion to Islam Reilly attended prayers at the Plymouth Islamic Education Trust.

Police believe the person who radicalised him worshipped there too, though there is no suggestion the organisation or its trustees were involved in the radicalisation.

A spokesperson for the trust said: "Our views are the same as any other Muslim organisation, that Islam is a faith of peace and the Holy Koran forbids any killing of innocent people - of all mankind."

Ms Reilly is angry that her son was the only person tried for the attempted bombing.

"Somebody has brainwashed him, he's done the work and they're walking free."

On her mantelpiece is a card written by Reilly while he was on remand in prison.

Inside, scrawled in childish handwriting, are the words: "To the Queen of my heart my mum. Just to say how much I love and miss you. You are my lovely, beautiful mother.... Loves you, your boy, Nicky."

She says: "He doesn't need to be in prison, he needs to be in hospital. Nicky's not a criminal. It's a religion thing."

Despite the fact her son's crime has turned her life "upside down" she will be standing by him.

"I'll always be there for him. He's got no worries there, he knows that."

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