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A Doomsday ‘prepper’ turned his home into an explosives factory, set off devices in the garden and searched YouTube for explanations on how to make flamethrowers, 3D-printed guns and a sodium bomb, a court has heard.
Simon Pilgrim, 41, was arrested following a police raid of his home within a multi-occupancy in King Alfred Street, Derby, in December last year.
In a subsequent search of his property, officers found 13 viable improvised explosive devices (IEDs) in his room and the burnt remains of 40 more in the back garden.
He is standing trial at the Old Bailey charged with three counts of possession of an explosive substance in relation to black powder, ‘rocket candy’ and pyrotechnic fuses.He also .
Police were forced to evacuate Pilgrim’s neighbours while they removed the devices from his home
The court heard today that Pilgrim was asked prior to the search whether he had anything dangerous inside the house, to which he responded: ‘There’s an ottoman in my room. Inside it is a shoe box and inside that are small bangers.They just make noise.’
But Emma Gargitter, prosecuting, suggested he had turned his room into a ‘storage space and workshop for manufacturing explosive devices’.
Items seized included cut pipes and end caps, resin kits and moulds for making knife blades and knuckle dusters, a bag containing black clothes, a lock pick kit and elbow and knee pads, IED casing, body armour and a notebook of explosives recipes.
Overall, there was around 307g of homemade explosives and the chemical precursors to make about 824g more, the court was told.
Pilgrim allegedly began buying items linked to the manufacture of explosives in bulk from eBay and Amazon last August.
Analysis of his phone allegedly uncovered three video clips of the defendant setting off IEDs of ever-increasing size and strength of detonation in his garden last autumn.
He is also said to have shown an interest in ‘survival and self-defence’ through the purchase of a volume of the book 100 Deadly Skills: A Navy Seal’s Guide To Crushing Your Enemy, it was claimed.
Pligrim also considered buying another book called How To Survive The End Of The World As We Know It: From Financial Crisis To Flu Epidemic, jurors heard.
Shortly before the police raid, Pilgrim allegedly searched Google and YouTube for how to make items such as a flamethrower, 3D printed gun and sodium bomb.
Some 50 houses were evacuated until the bomb squad ensured the area was safe
Ms Gargitter said the possession of the the books 100 Deadly Skills, FM 5-31 Boobytrap and The Anarchist Cookbook were of ‘particular concern’ and the subject of three charges against him.
Following his arrest, Pilgrim told police he was seeking to create a safer form of firework and that he wanted to open a firework store.
He told officers: ‘When I do make explosive compounds…I make small amounts. I don’t want to make large amounts because that will get me into trouble.’
In interview, Pilgrim also spoke of being a ‘prepper’ — an individual preparing for an impending war or disaster.
When asked by officers why a ‘prepper’ would be required to have IEDs, he answered: ‘Oh, no.That is something different.’
He said the devices were meant to be an improvement on fireworks to make them safer and he never meant to harm anyone.
Pilgrim went on to say he purchased a stab vest for paintballing and had taken an archery course to do more training.
But Ms Gargitter told the court: ‘At the heart of this case lies his interest in explosives and explosive devices.
‘Evidence will be adduced to show that this interest was unregulated, dangerous and without a lawful purpose.
‘Whilst the Crown do not set out to prove Mr Pilgrim was intending to use these documents and explosives to cause injury to persons or damage to property, his activities did incur a significant risk that such harm might be caused, even if only inadvertently.’
She said while Pilgrim may have been interested in fireworks, the evidence showed that late last year he had become ‘fascinated by weapons, self-defence and survival’.
‘Boredom, curiosity and a desire to simply experiment’ then led Pilgrim to take even greater risks, she suggested.
The trial continues.