Liverpool Hospital Bomber Remained in UK for Years Despite Having His Asylum Application Rejected

The perpetrator of the attempted Liverpool Women's Hospital bombing, Emad al Swealmeen, had his asylum application turned down by the British authorities in 2014, seven years before the incident, on the basis that he had not demonstrated "substantial grounds" to qualify for the status and had not established a "well-founded fear of persecution", the coroner's court on his case said.

Al Swealmeen did not show up for his final hearing on his asylum application in 2014 and unsuccessfully challenged the judge's decision in 2015. Yet, despite the judge ordering his removal from the UK, the man stayed in the country up until November 2021, when he attempted to carry out a bombing, ultimately dying from his own device without killing anyone else.

Furthermore, according to the coroner's court, al Swealmeen once again applied for asylum in January 2021 and his application was still under review on the day he died. The UK Home Office failed to provide an explanation as to why the bomber was not deported from the country in 2014-2015 after his application for asylum and subsequent appeal were turned down.

On 14 November 2021, al Swealmeen took a cab to Liverpool Women's Hospital while carrying an explosive device containing shrapnel. The device went off as the car was approaching the destination, with the perpetrator being quickly engulfed in fire unable to leave the still moving vehicle – reportedly due to the driver locking him in.

The driver managed to get himself from the car before it was consumed in flames. No one else was injured and al Swealmeen was the only fatality in the incident. His motives and the exact target for bombing still remain unclear. According to one theory investigated by police, he wanted to bomb Liverpool's Anglican cathedral nearby, where Remembrance Sunday services were being held on that day.