Suicide bomber’s grave targeted by vandals

The grave of one of the suicide bombers behind the 7/7 London terror attacks has been targeted by vandals at a Leeds cemetery.

The plot where teenage terrorist Hasib Hussain’s remains are buried was damaged along with another grave in the Muslim section of Cottingley Cemetery.

Headstones are understood to have been pushed over and racist graffiti scrawled on the stonework.

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The damage was reported by cemetery staff to police, who said they would be stepping up patrols in the area.

Hussain, from nearby Holbeck, was 18 when he blew up a number 30 bus in London’s Tavistock Square, killing 13 people, on July 7, 2005.

The attacks by Hussain; Mohammed Sidique Khan, 30, from Dewsbury; Shehzad Tanweer, 22, from Beeston and Jermaine Lindsay, 19, who grew up in Huddersfield but was living in Aylesbury at the time of the bombings, were the worst single terrorist atrocity on British soil.

The bomb detonated by Hussain together with the blasts on three underground trains killed 52 people and injured more than 770.

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Hussain’s family spoke at the time of their devastation at his involvement in the bombings. He had told them he was visiting friends and they reported him missing when he failed to return.

“We had no knowledge of his activities and, had we done we would have done everything in our power to stop him,” they said in a statement shortly after the attacks.

A West Yorkshire Police spokesman said: “We have received a report of damage to two graves in the Muslim section of Cottingley Cemetery and we are investigating. Neighbourhood policing officers are paying extra attention to the area and have liaised with local community representatives to reassure them.”