Youth accused of Tube bomb bid refuses to give evidence in trial

A young man accused of planting a home-made bomb on the Tube has refused to explain himself at his trial.

Damon Smith was 19 when he allegedly packed a rucksack with explosives and ball-bearing shrapnel and left it on a train timed to go off within minutes.

He allegedly referred to an al Qaida article entitled Make A Bomb In The Kitchen Of Your Mom as he put together the device with a £2 clock from Tesco.

A shopping list for "pressure cooker bomb materials" was also allegedly found on an iPad ending in a note to "keep this a secret between me and Allah #InspireTheBelievers".

Jurors at the Old Bailey have been shown CCTV charting Smith's journey on the London Underground on the morning of October 20 last year.

There were at least 10 passengers in the Jubilee Line carriage when he left the device, the court has heard.

Had it worked, it would have exploded just as people were being ordered off the platform after the train arrived at North Greenwich, the jury was told.

Upon his arrest, the autistic student admitted making the device but claimed he only meant it to spew harmless smoke as a prank.

After the prosecution closed its case, Smith's lawyer, Richard Carey-Hughes QC, announced his client's decision not to give evidence.

Judge Richard Marks QC told jurors they could draw such inferences from his failure to go into the witness box as they saw fit.

He told jurors the defence case would continue and they would probably begin deliberating on their verdict on Wednesday.

Smith, now 20, of Rotherhithe, south London, denies possession of an explosive substance with intent, contrary to the Explosive Substances Act 1883 but has admitted the lesser offence of perpetrating a bomb hoax.