A patient who intervened to prevent a bombing at a hospital has revealed he hugged the man who was planning the attack to help calm him down.
Nathan Newby, who has received the George Medal from the King in recognition of his bravery, spent two hours persuading “lone-wolf terrorist” Mohammad Farooq to abandon his plan at St James’ Hospital in Leeds in 2023.
In his first interview, Newby, 35, said: “I hate going into hospitals but on that day, I was in there for a reason and it was not to get better; I was in there because that was happening.”
Farooq, who worked at the hospital, was later convicted of preparing acts of terrorism and was jailed for a minimum of 37 years.
Newby, who was being treated for a chest infection at the time, said he had gone outside for a vape and “a bit of fresh air” when he saw Farooq outside the maternity ward fidgeting and looking anxious.
“He looked out of place so I went over to see if he was alright, to see if I could cheer him up,” he explained.
“He was watching a bag all the time which was six feet away.”
Newby, from Leeds, persuaded Farooq to open it up and show him the contents – a pressure cooker bomb with 10kg of explosives.
A trial at Sheffield Crown Court heard the bomb was estimated to be “double the size” of the device used in the 2013 Boston Marathon attack, which killed three and injured hundreds.
“I thought there’s no way of getting away now so I might as well stay with the guy,” Newby said.
“If I’d have run away, he would have panicked.
“I stuck with him, trying to take his mind off what he wanted to do, get to know him and what he was thinking and see if I could change it.”
Farooq had been employed as a nursing assistant at the hospital but was described in court as “a self-radicalised lone-wolf terrorist”.
Jurors heard he had a grievance against colleagues and wanted to “kill as many nurses as possible” at the time of the planned attack in the early hours of 20 January 2023.
