Hero patient speaks out on stopping Leeds hospital bombing

A hospital patient who bravely talked a “lone wolf terrorist” out of detonating a bomb in a maternity ward has revealed the would-be attacker “asked for a hug” before instructing him to “call the police before I change my mind”.

Nathan Newby, whose extraordinary kindness prevented possible persecution, spoke publicly for the first time before receiving the George Medal for bravery.

Mohammad Farooq was sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum term of 37 years last year for bringing a homemade pressure cooker bomb to St James’s Hospital in Leeds. His intention was to “kill as many nurses as possible.”

The judge who sentenced Farooq, Mrs Justice Cheema-Grubb, praised Mr Newby as “an extraordinary, ordinary man whose kindness and decency prevented the cruelty that took place in the maternity ward of a major British hospital on 20 January 2023”.

Mr Newby is set to receive the George Medal, the second highest civilian award for bravery, for his life-saving actions this Wednesday.

Speaking before the ceremony, Mr Newby, 35, from Leeds, said Farooq was “probably a good guy” who was “going through some bad things at the time”.

He modestly described himself as someone who was “in the right place at the right time.”

A hearing previously heard that Farooq had become a “self-radicalised lone wolf terrorist” inspired by the so-called Islamic State group. He targeted the hospital over his long-standing grievance with nurses on his ward, having previously worked there as a clinical support worker.

Mr Newby was a patient in hospital the night Farooq planned the attack.

When she went outside to get a vape and “some fresh air”, she noticed Farooq with his hands in his pockets, “shaking around like he just got bad news or something”.

Mr Newby described his approach: “I went up to him to see if he was okay, to see if I could make him feel better. I said: ‘How are you, mate? Are you okay?’ and it really went from there.”

After about an hour of their conversation, Farooq finally admitted that he was there “for some kind of revenge” and revealed that he had a bomb.

Mr Newby observed that Farooq was “constantly watching his bag, he was about two meters away from us and every nurse that passed him was looking at them, looking at the bag”.

When asked what was inside, Farooq said, “he said hmm and didn’t want to, but then I got out. He just said it was a bomb.”

Mr Newby immediately understood the seriousness of the situation: “I could hear it in his voice, it wasn’t a joke or anything like that.”

He then asked to see the device “just to confirm and then he happily opened it and showed it to me.” Although “part of me” was scared, Mr Newby’s primary concern was getting Farooq away from the building.

“I wasn’t going to do anything like yelling or anything like that because that would upset other people and just cause havoc, so I thought the best way was to just stay quiet and get it out of the way and be tactical about it.”

He also revealed that he was struggling with his own mental health issues at the time, explaining that he thought: “If it blows up, it’s just going to be me and him, and I want to make sure it’s just me and him and no one else.”

He tactically asked about the radius of the bomb and directed Farooq to nearby benches, calculating that “at least if it had gone off, it would have destroyed only the doors, not the entire building.”

He described this quick thinking as “just pure instinct” and added: “I don’t know where that came from.”

For several hours, the duo “just chatted” with Farooq sharing details about his family and children.

Mr Newby recalled: “He asked for a hug a few times and I said yes, of course you can.” She perceived Farooq as “normal” and said: “I don’t judge anyone. Everyone is different and unique in their own way, right? I didn’t judge him.”

Eventually Farooq asked for a hug, described Mr Newby as “the best man” and then instructed him: “Give the police a call before I change my mind.”

Mr Newby admitted: “It was a bit of a relief, but at the end of the day he could have changed his mind at any time, whether we were on the phone to the police or not.”

The magnitude of what had happened only dawned on him when he got into the back of a police van after armed police arrived and detained Farooq.

“It started to sink in with the thought that it could have been different,” he said. “The emotions started coming, it was like wow, like this just happened.”

During his call to police, Mr Newby described Farooq as someone who “seemed like a good man deep down”.

When asked about her current feelings towards him, she repeated: “He’s probably a good guy. He just had his head in the wrong place at the wrong time. I could tell he was just going through bad things at the time, and when you’re in that state, your mind is capable of doing all kinds of things you don’t expect.”

Despite his heroic actions, Mr. Newby remains humble; he does not consider himself a hero, but simply someone who “was in the right place at the right time.”

He concluded: “I only think about that night (now) if someone brought it up. And then it’s like, it’s crazy how these things can go… I was a patient at the time, so I wouldn’t have been here, because I was in front of the building, so he would have taken me out.”