A rail passenger who told police he was Osama Bin Laden after sparking a terrror threat onboard a train has been jailed.

Mohammed Khalil Khan, 50, boarded a train at Manchester Victoria and began 'making threats to commit future acts of violence', a court heard.

He sparked alarm by making comments about the Taliban and the 9/11 terror attack on the World Trade Centre in New York.

Homeless Khan was jailed for 18 months at Preston Crown Court after pleading guilty to possessing a bladed article in a public place.

On August 9 2021, Khan boarded a train at Manchester Victoria station heading to Clitheroe.

A member of staff was alerted by a passenger to Khalil making threats to commit acts of violence and making comments about the atrocities of 9/11 and the Taliban.

The member of staff followed the passenger to the carriage that Khan was occupying before returning to the front of the train to call 999.

The train stopped at Darwen where the suspect was met by a team of officers, with passengers being ushered from the train to safety.

The station was locked down and the railway line closed for several hours.

Khan was then detained where he verbally abused officers and became aggressive.

Following a search of a bag that Khan was in possession of a knife was found and he was arrested.

At an earlier court hearing, Blackburn magistrates were told the railway line was closed for several hours as the army bomb disposal squad carried out X-rays of bags belonging to Khan.

He had made comments about the New York World Trade Center terror attacks on the train and later told police he was Osama Bin Laden.

A passenger approached the train guard shortly after the train had left Bolton station and reported concerns over the comments being made by Khan. He also said he could see wires coming from one of the bags.

Shortly after another passenger reported hearing Khan saying he was going to cut people’s heads off.

Detective Chief Inspector, Kay Dennison, of Counter Terrorism Policing North West, said: This was a terrifying incident for the passengers to be stuck on a moving train with Khan making such concerning threats.

“His behaviour led to the train station where he was detained being closed off as a precaution, causing widespread disruption and a sense of panic in the local area.

“Khan’s behaviour was frankly very worrying and completely unacceptable to cause fear in a public place.

“I’d like to thank the members of the public who reported Khan and offered to be witnesses and the train staff for their quick action in alerting police.”