Home Secretary commends Glasgow airport workers

Yesterday, Home Secretary Jacqui Smith commended staff for their daring efforts at Glasgow Airport where they confronted a terrorist attempting to detonate a car bomb in the terminal building.

Ms Smith visited the airport, praising police and airport staff for their dedication and courage under difficult circumstances.

The tour included a look at the new security improvements installed since the attack. The building terminal now has strengthened bollards to prevent vehicle access, road layout changes to deter private vehicles from entering vulnerable areas and number plate recognition cameras set up around the airport.

On June 30 2007, Iraqi doctor Bilal Abdulla and Kafeel Ahmed drove a burning vehicle stocked with gas cylinders and petrol into the terminal building. Bilal Abdulla was sentenced to over 32 years in prison while his accomplice died five weeks later from severe burns incurred during the attack.

Officer from Strathclyde Police, Stephen Hughes, helped to restrain Kafeel Ahmed during the assault and said yesterday: "We had a lucky escape. Had the attackers been more determined to get into the building there could have been carnage."