Pop Bottle Bombers Get Life in Prison

Remember the chaos created by Prof. Irwin Corey as the suspected "pop bottle bomber" in the 1970s comedy movie "Car Wash?" It turned out that Corey's bottle contained a urine sample that he was bringing to his doctor, but real pop bottle bombers really do exist. The New York Times reports that

A British judge sentenced three men to life in prison on Monday for plotting to bomb at least seven trans-Atlantic airliners with liquid explosives smuggled aboard in soft-drink bottles, concluding the largest counterterrorism investigation in British history, news agencies reported.

No laughing matter here,

The sentencing came three years after the global airline industry was thrown into chaos by the plot. The bombers’ plan to drain plastic soft-drink bottles with syringes and refill them with concentrated hydrogen peroxide, a bleaching agent also used as a propellant for rockets, led to new measures prohibiting passengers from carrying all but small quantities of liquids and creams onto flights.

The conspirators, Abdulla Ahmed Ali, will face a minimum of 40 years in prison, Assad Sarwar, will be jailed for at least 36 years, while Tanvir Hussain, "described as the man responsible for acquiring and assembling the explosive devices at a London warehouse, received a minimum term of 32 years, the Press Association reported."

Congratulations to the British justice system.

Read the full report 3 British Men Sentenced to Life in Plot to Blow Up Planes.

Stephen M. Flatow