A student has been jailed for 15 years for planting a home-made bomb on a busy tube train.

Weapons-obsessed Damon Smith built the device at home with a £2 clock from Tesco after finding an online al-Qaida article about how to make a bomb at home.

Smith, 20, claimed it was a Halloween prank but was found guilty of possession of an explosive substance with intent following a trial at the Old Bailey.

The defendant, who is autistic, smiled in the dock as Judge Richard Marks QC sentenced him to 15 years in a young offender institution with an extended period of five years on licence.

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2017/may/26/devon-student-damon-smith-sentenced-to-15-years-for-planting-bomb-on-tube


It actually happened last year but he only just got sentenced

Just a prank, man!

Weapons-obsessed Damon Smith

The part I underlined seems like the author of the article did his own version of the Mike Pence nickname meme. 

Wow. Did he upload the prank to YT?

Here's a more credible source http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-london-40059351

Fuck man they really are going to use the autism card on this as an excuse huh?

"Bu- but, he's autistic, that's why he did it!"

Bullshit, just because someone's autistic doesn't mean they're going to blow up a fucking bus or building. That shit should be a separate issue.

is someone else going to make the obvious zinger here or do i have to

Shut up.

Here's a more credible source http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-london-40059351

Fuck man they really are going to use the autism card on this as an excuse huh?

"Bu- but, he's autistic, that's why he did it!"

Bullshit, just because someone's autistic doesn't mean they're going to blow up a fucking bus or building. That shit should be a separate issue.

It's not an excuse, it can be an influential factor that can lead to shit like this, as it has before (There's other more reliable and impartial BBC links to this story, but this one is the most comprehensive).

It doesn't mean every autistic/aspergers person is going to decide to do shit like this, but when you aren't thinking in your right mind, having an underlying mental condition isn't going to alleviate the problem. In Damon's case his symptom of obsessing over things got him obsessed with weapons a bit more so than a 12-year old does about guns-n-bombs-n-stuff.

The dude got 15 years, I'd hardly say that was lenient because of his autism. He put a bomb on a train, simple as that.