Creffield Road Woman Jailed for Planning to Make Bomb
Judge concluded Ewa Daszuta only intended to take her own life
Ewa Daszuta. Picture: Facebook
September 27, 2023
A 45-year-old woman from Ealing has received a 20-month jail sentence after she was found with materials which would have enabled her to make a bomb.
Ewa Daszuta of Creffield Road was convicted at Isleworth Crown Court on Wednesday (20 September) in a case that the judge described as “highly unusual, if not unique.”
During the trial, which was held to determine the facts of the case rather than guilt, it emerged that Daszuta had purchased a range of chemicals that had legitimate uses as fertilisers and food preservation. She had initially claimed that she had bought the products for her gardening business but at her trial at Uxbridge Magistrates’ Court this May she pleaded guilty to possessing explosive materials with the intent to endanger life.
It was determined that her intention was to take her own life rather than to hurt others. She had previously been sectioned under the Mental Health Act after dousing her feet with petrol and setting them on fire. In a statement given to the court she had said that she intended to take them to a wood in the Guildford area at a spot where she had previously found peace and serenity.
Her plan was discovered when she was visited at her home on 25 February by a member of Ealing’s mental health team in which she showed the nurse the materials she had purchased. This visit followed others in which she had discussed wanting to try out explosives and mentioned Anders Breivik, the far-right Norwegian mass murderer who had killed eight people by planting a bomb before going on a shooting spree at a youth summer camp.
Daszuta offered no resistance when the nurse said that she would take the materials away and the police were called. Later analysis confirmed that the materials gathered could be used to make an explosion.
His Honour Judge Nicholas Wood said he was giving her the benefit of the doubt and concluded this was an elaborate method of suicide conceived by a person who was mentally ill rather than a plan to endanger the lives of other people. A forensic psychologist had given the evidence that Daszuta posed a low risk of harm to others. However, the judge also determined that the offence was not an impulsive act and her use of cocaine, cannabis and alcohol at the time she made the purchases was an aggravating factor as well as the distress she had caused the nurse.
She has been on remand since her original arrest and may only need to serve half of her sentence which could lead to her being released on licence before the end of the year.
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