Mohammed Hamid (born 1957) is a Muslim British national most known for his ties with the 21 July 2005 London Bombings and as a disciple of the radical preacher Abdullah el-Faisel. Mohammed Hamid had been convicted with having relations and training terrorists involved with the unsuccessful 21 July 2005 London Bombing attack. Also known as “Osama Bin London,” he has lived a life of crime throughout his life. From petty crimes and drug addiction in his early age, he later became a radical Islamic preacher/tutor of terrorism.
Early life
Born in 1957, Mohammed Hamid is from an Indian Muslim Family and came to Europe as a child. After moving to Batley, West Yorkshire with his family, he eventually moved to London at the age of 12. From a very young age he got into trouble for shoplifting and committing petty crimes such as stealing snacks as a child. At age 16, he dropped out of school to work at a Fiat garage. By the age of 19, he was drinking, committing burglaries, and was involved in many illegal acts. As a result he was serving time in the youth detention center. Eventually he would find himself in prison for robbery. In total, Hamid served three prison sentences for his crimes. Also known as “Babou” to his family Mohammed Hamid had four brothers, seven sisters and lived with his parents and relatives while running a clothing business. His first marriage although unregistered was to an Afro-Caribbean woman called Linda from Hackney, east London. His relatives say Muhammed had beaten his wife, committed much physical abuse, and had an abusive personality. At the age of 32 after his divorce, Muhammed became addicted to crack cocaine. When asked about his addiction history, he told the trial the severe extent to his addiction. From selling everything he owned to keep his habit, his addiction left him with nothing in life. As he said himself, he was living like a tramp. In order to fix his addiction, he moved to India where he met and married his second wife who was a committed Muslim. After he met his new wife and had four children with her, he moved back to Britain with his new family and began to devote his life to the religion of Islam.
Life after religion
The death of Muhammad Hamid’s father and his new life with his second wife was a big factor in his new dedication to the Islam religion. Soon, Mohammed Hamid rediscovered a new version of his faith after a trip to the Mosque. He opened an Islamic bookshop al-Koran in the Clapton area of east London and started attending rallies at Speaker’s Corner in Hyde Park after the 9/11 attacks for many years. He had devoted his life to living by his religion of Islam and even wore traditional gowns. It was during this time when he began to become increasingly radical and vocal. After attending many rallies and reaching out to Muslim individuals, Mohammed Hamid soon became a disciple of the radical preacher Abdullah el-Faisal, and is known to be influenced by his radical teachings.
21 July 2005 London Bombing
On Thursday 21 July 2005, 4 terrorist attackers attempted to bomb parts of London’s transportation system but were unsuccessful. The explosions occurred around midday at the Shepherd's Bush, Warren Street and Oval stations in the London underground. There was also an explosion on a bus in Bethnal Green. Only one minor injury was reported during the bombing and the suspects fled the scenes after their bombs failed to explode. As a result, the police operated a manhunt to find the suspects. However, during the manhunt, Jean Charles de Menezes was shot and killed after police misidentified him as one of the suspected bombers. Muktar Ibrahim, 29, Yassin Omar, 26, Ramzi Mohammed, 25, and Hussain Osman, 28, were found guilty of conspiracy to murder. The four attempted bombers were each sentenced to life imprisonment, with a minimum of 40 years' imprisonment. With these attempted bombers, Mohammed Hamid and Mousa Brown had also been arrested for relations with these bombers. Mousa Brown was later found not guilty and was dropped of all charges. However, police say that the Islamic extremist Mohammed Hamid played a crucial role in training/preparing the young men who were involved in the 21/7 bombing for terrorism. There was evidence that Hamid had communicated with these attackers before the attack and after previous terrorist attacks.