Exclusive: Teenager linked to Tube bomb plot was ‘poker-loving loner’

It looks like the eye witness who described a white boy with a long beard was the more accurate of the various bystanders near the arrest. Although he is clean-shaven in these pictures. He has a European name – Damon Smith – however the possibility that the placing of the bomb had an Islamic motive was made at a high level. Maybe his recent holidays in Tunisia and Turkey will be found to be relevant. From the Telegraph

A teenager linked to the London Underground bomb plot was a poker-loving student who was only ever seen with his mother, The Telegraph can disclose.

Damon Smith, 19, had moved from Devon to the capital over the summer to attend university. He was joined there by his mother, Antonitza, who feared he would struggle to cope on his own, neighbours claim.

On his Twitter account, Smith poses with wads of cash he has won playing poker and also posts pictures of a recent trip to Tunisia and Turkey.

Several addresses linked to the student have been visited by police since a suspect device was found on board a Tube carriage on the Jubilee Line near the O2 Arena in Greenwich on Thursday.

Police, who refused to confirm he was the 19-year-old in custody, raided his former home in Newton Abbot on Saturday and are also understood to have visited a nearby relative.

Another resident, who did not want to be named, said: “Damon went to go to university. He just seemed like a really gentle lad. He is really smart, really smart. I know he played poker and stuff,  he’s really good at it. “From meeting him I would he really surprised…Mum felt she needed to still be nearby to cook his dinner and stuff. I think that was another reason why I thought he was a bit vulnerable…”

Scotland Yard has until Friday to question the suspect in custody. The force refused to confirm his identity. A statement said: “Officers are keeping an open mind regarding any possible motive. They are not looking for anyone else in relation to this investigation at this stage.”

Update, am, 24th October. The Sun newspaper has been talking to his friends. His family is Greek Cypriot, not a group who usually have much time for Islam for obvious reasons. However: 

Former best friend Vincent Jones, also 19, said: “Damon was quite successful at poker. I think that’s how he would fund buying replica weapons. He had a Koran and knew several phrases and he wore a black headscarf. Damon had replica guns and air rifles and even posted a video of himself shooting a replica Glock on YouTube.”

Vincent said: “His mum was always quite protective of him because he had learning difficulties. She moved to London with him when he got on an IT course at a London university.”

Detectives are thought to be gathering material on Smith’s trips abroad to Turkey and Egypt.

One 60-second video on Facebook shows him listening to what sounds like a Muslim call to prayer being read out in Istanbul.

I cannot but be reminded of the case of Nicky Reilly, another young man also from Devon, who had Aspergers Syndrome. In his case he also had the mental age of a much younger boy, but Aspergers Syndrome can be linked with very high intelligence. Reilly, who was found dead in his prison cell only last week, was a convert to Islam, who I think was considered expendible by his handlers and his ‘friends’ at Exeter Mosque, through his being an outsider. It may be coincidence. That the Press Association’s film critic has the same name is definitely a coincidence.