‘I hugged a would-be bomber to stop a maternity ward terror attack’

Nathan Newby, a hero hospital patient who stopped a “lone-wolf terrorist” from detonating a bomb at Leeds hospital’s maternity wing, says the would-be attacker “asked for a cuddle.” Mohammad Farooq was jailed last year for life with a minimum term of 37 years after taking a home-made pressure cooker bomb into St James’s Hospital, intending to “kill as many nurses as possible”. Mr Newby will receive the George Medal, the second-highest civilian gallantry award, for his bravery. He had gone outside the hospital for a vape when he approached a “swaying” Farooq to “see if he was alright.” The 35-year-old from Leeds revealed that Farooq told him he had a bomb, so he quietly moved him away to nearby benches where the pair “chatted” for several hours and Farooq asked him for a “cuddle” before telling him: “Phone the police before I change my mind.”