Radio sets off home-made bomb 
2003 Reader Submission
Pending Acceptance
OK, So this guy's not actually dead, but he has blown his testicles off - which must count for something. What makes this case so strange is that he was sending the bomb to someone who owes him money - not an ideal way to ensure the debt was repaid, I would have thought. I hope this story makes the grade, or if not I hope you enjoy it anyway.
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Hi-fi waves from radio may have set off bomb, court told Jul 26 2002
The Western Mail
RADIO waves from a nearby hi-fi player could have triggered an explosion which blew off a businessman's hands, a court heard yesterday.
The hi-fi waves from a radio broadcasting Radio 2 may have caused a detonator to explode while Jonathan Griffiths was allegedly putting together a home-made bomb in the same room.
Griffiths is accused of making a letter bomb to post to a business contact who owed him £6,500.
Griffiths, 42, suffered massive injuries in the blast - losing his hands and testicles, and suffering severe burns and burst eardrums.
All his clothes were burned to a cinder and paramedics found him bleeding and burnt - saying, "Tell my wife I love her."
Forensic explosive scientist Helen Cullum told Cardiff Crown Court yesterday that waves from an ordinary radio could have caused the sensitive detonator to explode.
Ieuan Morris, defending Griffiths, said, "Handling electric detonators is a very dangerous business. If they were tuning into Jimmy Young on Radio 2, they could go off."
Miss Cullum, of the Forensic Explosives Laboratory, Sevenoaks, Kent, agreed the radio or even a mobile phone could have led to the bomb going off prematurely.
Griffiths was in the kitchen of his friend Geoffrey Wildy, 58, at Brynna, near Bridgend, when the detonator exploded.
Miss Cullum described the bomb-making as "unprofessional" and "over-engineered" .
Griffiths, of Wisbech, Cambridgeshire, and Wildy both deny having an explosive substance with intent to endanger life and doing an act with intent to cause an explosion.
The court was told that Wildy escaped injury because he had been yards away in another room.
The trial continues.
Submitted on 07/26/2002
Submitted by:
Mike Anthony
Reference:
The Western Mail. 26/7/ 2002
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