Man who 'experimented' with explosives cleared of terror charges

Eight homes were evacuated in Coventry after explosives were discovered in 2018

A man with autism who set off experimental explosions in his garden has been cleared of terrorism offences.

Chez Copeland, 22, has spent almost two years on remand in maximum security prisons after an explosion in Coventry.

Homes had to be evacuated after unstable explosives were found at Copeland's family home in Brookside Avenue on 24 April 2018.

At Birmingham Crown Court, he admitted owning a stun gun and acquiring an explosive without a certificate.

Judge Mark Wall sentenced Copeland to 22 months' imprisonment - time which he has already spent on remand - and he was released.

The Army's Explosive Ordnance Disposal unit was sent to the residential street

The court heard Copeland had an "obsessive interest" in the military and had dreamed of joining the armed forces but his ambition was thwarted by his autism.

Judge Wall accepted he had "not intended to use HMTD [the explosive] in a criminal way" but had acquired it "because he had a curiosity to see what he could do with it".

He formally found Copeland not guilty of the terrorism and Explosive Substances Act offences after prosecutors offered no evidence following a Supreme Court ruling that "experimentation" was capable of being a lawful defence.

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Copeland's defence, Paul Bogan QC, said the blasts had posed "no real risk of injury" and likened the explosions to those "from a damp firework".

A controlled disposal of a substance was carried out, leading to a small fire

His mother, Kim, said the case against her son had been "ridiculous" and that his life had been "turned upside down" by the terrorism allegations.

"They didn't have to create the circus that they have created and treat us like criminals," she said.