The Telegraph reports an eBay seller’s tip-off led to the discovery that a teenager was making bombs with material bought on the site. Concerned about the range of commodities being purchased by a buyer, the seller alerted police, who found one piped packed with nails and charged with powder in the 16 year old’s bedroom, and another pipe containing . He also had literature from the British National Party and English Defence League. He admitted possessing a firearm without a certificate – the only charge which could be applied to the bedroom nail bomb – as well as to having an explosive substance and making an explosive substance.
Defence claimed that the teenager, who cannot be named, was simply developing an interest in fireworks and pyrotechnics. But the judge imposed a three year controlling order for public safety, and commented that he found it hard to believe that the boy’s parents had not seen the danger in his making explosives, nor in their combination with extreme political views.
