Firefighter: My 21/7 horror

A firefighter told a jury how he confronted one of the alleged July 21 terror plotters.

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Angus Campbell, 43, said he faced the alleged bomber, Ramzi Mohammed, as others tried to flee the Tube carriage, and shouted: "What have you done, what have you done?" A young mother also said she feared she and her nine-month-old son were going to die as Mohammed's explosive mixture seeped out of his rucksack on to the floor.

Nadia Baro told Woolwich Crown Court: "I was in such a panic. I did not know how a bomb worked and I thought we were going to die now."

Mr Campbell said the sound of an explosion sparked panic in the Northern Line Tube carriage, just two weeks after the July 7 bombings, with passengers screaming in fear. Despite being "cowed" by the blast, he told the jury he helped Mrs Baro and her son out of the carriage, before turning to confront the alleged bomber - who had smoke coming from his back.

Facing Mohammed from across the courtroom for the first time since his alleged failed suicide attack, Mr Campbell spoke of how he tried to remonstrate with him.

"I was shouting 'what have you done, what have you done?'," he said. "I shouted at him 'you are scaring us'."

But Mohammed was "screaming and shouting" and would only reply "This is wrong, this is wrong", the court was told.

Mr Campbell said that when he pointed at the sponge-like debris on the floor of the carriage and demanded to know what it was, Mohammed tried to claim it was bread.

"That made no sense to me," he said.

Mr Campbell and Mrs Baro were among up to 30 passengers on the northbound Northern Line Tube train, which was travelling between Stockwell and Oval when Mohammed allegedly tried to detonate an explosive mix of hydrogen peroxide and chapatti flour.

Only the detonator blew and the alleged failed bomber fled. The court heard today that several members of the public at Oval station gave chase, including a 71-year-old former soldier who pursued Mohammed up the escalator.

Mr Campbell, a firefighter of 21 years who is now a firefighting instructor, said he had been on his way to work at the time of the explosion and was sitting in the middle portion of the carriage on a fold-down seat, watching Mrs Baro and her son.

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