The bomb squad were scrambled and carried out a controlled explosion after a teenager launched a terrifying hoax which left police fearing they'd be killed. Officers received a call reporting there was a man with a gun placing a bag with wires coming out of it under a bus stop in Rochdale town centre.
Police raced to the scene and when they came across a bag matching that description, at about 3am on April 21, they called in the bomb squad. As police waited for the Army Explosive Ordinance Disposal Unit to arrive, one officer was sat in his car when a masked man knocked on his window.
The man was Husnain Masood, then 17, the same person who had called police originally. Masood, wearing all black and a balaclava, was armed with a knife.
