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Liverpool explosion: UK terror threat level raised to 'severe' following hospital blast - attack now 'highly likely'

The move, confirmed by Home Secretary Priti Patel, follows an explosion outside a hospital in Liverpool which police have declared a terror incident. The UK's terror threat level had been "substantial" since February 2021.

The UK's terror threat level has been raised from "substantial" to "severe", meaning an attack is now judged to be "highly likely".

The move, confirmed by Home Secretary Priti Patel, follows an explosion outside a hospital in Liverpool on Sunday which police have declared a terror incident.

Detectives have arrested four people over the blast, which killed a passenger inside a taxi.

Police believe it was that passenger who took an improvised explosive device into the vehicle, which exploded as the taxi arrived outside the reception of Liverpool Women's Hospital.

The decision to raise the threat level has been taken by the Joint Terrorism Analysis Centre (JTAC) and Ms Patel said it was made due to two incidents occurring in the last month.

It is exactly a month since Conservative MP Sir David Amess was stabbed to death at his constituency surgery in Essex. That attack was also declared a terrorist incident.

UK MP David Amess dies after being stabbed at constituency meeting in a church, suspect arrested

JTAC is based at MI5's headquarters in London and is made up of counter-terror experts from the police, government and security agencies.

Speaking to reporters, the home secretary said: "The prime minister has this afternoon just chaired a Cobra meeting and I attended that meeting too - and the points to note from that meeting is that, first of all, the incident has been declared as a terrorist incident, the police have now declared that.

"But, secondly, the Joint Terrorism Analysis Centre - JTAC - are now increasing the United Kingdom's threat level from substantial to severe.

"And there is a reason for that, and that reason is because what we saw yesterday is the second incident in a month.

"Now, of course that means we continue to work with our world class security, intelligence and policing services - representatives from those agencies.

"There is a live investigation taking place right now, they will need the time, the space, to do the work that they are doing in terms of investigating the incident.

"But of course, we as a government, I as home secretary, continue to work with everyone when it comes to the security of our country and making sure that we are taking all the necessary steps required."

The threat level was last raised to "severe" in November 2020 following attacks which saw four people shot dead in Vienna, three others die in a knife attack in Nice, and a teacher murdered in Paris.

In February 2021 it was downgraded to "substantial" - which the home secretary said followed a "significant reduction" in the momentum of attacks in Europe.

The "severe" level is the second highest alert, with only "critical" above it, and was last reached in September 2017 in the wake of the Parsons Green train bombing.

The five terror threat levels are:

Low - an attack is highly unlikely
Moderate - an attack is possible, but not likely
Substantial - an attack is likely
Severe - an attack is highly likely
Critical - an attack is highly likely in the near future

Police say the motivation for Sunday's incident is "not clear" - but that officers believe they know the identity of the taxi passenger and that the four arrested men are thought to be "associates".

Two addresses have been searched and "significant items" have been found at one of them.

The taxi driver who escaped the car explosion has been named as David Perry. He has been discharged from hospital and is recovering at home.

Sky News' security and defence editor Deborah Haynes said the move means security officials believe an attack is highly likely but there is no specific intelligence to suggest one is set to happen imminently.

Assistant Chief Constable Russ Jackson, from Counter-Terrorism Policing North West, said the investigation into the explosion is "continuing at pace".

He said: "The circumstances as we understand them to be are that yesterday, shortly before 11am, a local taxi driver picked up a fare in the Rutland Avenue area of Liverpool.

"The fare - a man - had asked to be taken to Liverpool Women's Hospital which was about 10 minutes away.

"As the taxi approached the drop-off point at the hospital an explosion occurred from within the car.

"This quickly engulfed it in flames. Remarkably, the taxi driver escaped from the cab. He has been treated for his injuries that he sustained and he's now been released from hospital."

Ms Patel said the attack had had a "very significant impact across the community" in Liverpool and her thoughts were with people in the city.

A suspected terrorist who blew himself up outside Liverpool Women's hospital at the weekend has been named as 32-year-old Emad al-Swealmeen.

Counter Terrorism Policing North West said they "strongly believe" al-Swealmeen was the passenger who died when a taxi exploded shortly before 11am on Sunday. According to reports, al-Swealmeen is believed not to be British-born and to have had Syrian and Iraqi heritage.

He is said to have converted to Christianity after moving to the UK from the Middle East and was later briefly taken in by Christian volunteers Malcolm and Elizabeth Hitchcott in Liverpool.

© Malcolm Hitchcott/FacebookEmad al-Swealmeen aka Enzo Almeni, who police ‘strongly believe’ blew himself up outside Liverpool women’s hospital.

Al-Swealmeen had changed his name by deed poll to Enzo Almeni, in honour of Italian race car legend Enzo Ferrari, to sound more western on his asylum application, which subsequently failed in 2014, Hitchcott told the Daily Mail.

Hitchcott told the newspaper: "He first came to the cathedral in August 2015 and wanted to convert to Christianity. He took an Alpha course, which explains the Christian faith, and completed it in November of that year. That enabled him to come to an informed decision and he changed from Islam to Christianity and was confirmed as a Christian by at least March 2017, just before he came to live with us. He was destitute at that time and we took him in."

Pictures posted on Hitchcott's Facebook profile showed the suspect smiling and posing alongside the couple during a walk a few years prior, including a picture showing al-Swealmeen during a service at Liverpool's Anglican Cathedral.

Speaking to the BBC, Elizabeth Hitchcott said: "We're just so, so sad. We just loved him, he was a lovely guy," adding she and her husband were "very" shocked by the incident.

© Malcolm Hitchcott/FacebookA photo of Emad al-Swealmeen posted on Hitchcott's Facebook.

Searches are under way at the Rutland Avenue address and a second address in Sutcliffe Street, which officers have said al-Swealmeen previously lived at, and police said they had recovered "significant items".

"We continue to appeal for any information about this incident and now that we have released his name any information that the public may have about al-Swealmeen, no matter how small, may be of great assistance to us."

Official sources previously confirmed to the PA news agency the suspect was not previously known to the security services.

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