'GUTTED IS AN UNDERSTATEMENT'
Neighbours describe agony of MBE foster carers who cared for two young refugees caught up in ‘bucket bomb’ investigation
NEIGHBOURS of the husband and wife believed to have fostered two men being questioned by police over the Parsons Green bombing say the couple are "gutted".
Penny and Ron Jones, aged 71 and 88, previously received MBEs for services to children and families.
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An 18-year-old, understood to be suspected of planting the device on a Tube train, and a 21-year-old were both arrested under the Terrorism Act following Friday's blast.
Both are believed to have spent time in the care of Mr and Mrs Jones.
A friend of the couple, who live in Sunbury-on-Thames, Surrey, told the : "To say they are gutted is an understatement.
"For this to happen, after all the kids they have fostered, and for it to ruin everything... questions have to be asked about what checks were made and who decided to place him with them."
And Stephen Griffiths, 28, who lives across the road, said: "Police have been at this address a few times in the last couple of weeks."
Detectives are continuing to probe whether more plotters were involved in the DIY bomb attack that sent a "fireball" through a packed Tube carriage on Friday morning.
What we know so far:
- A homemade bucket bomb connected to a timer sent a "fireball" hurtling through an eastbound District Line Tube at Parsons Green at around 8.20am on Friday
- The Metropolitan Police confirmed they are treating the horror as a terror attack
- 30 people were injured including a young boy believed to have suffered serious burns to his legs
- British police arrested an 18-year-old man in the ferry departure area of the port of Dover on Saturday
- Hours later, police raided a house in a commuter town southwest of London, and evacuated nearby premises as a precaution
- A second man, 21, was arrested late last night in in Hounslow and a second home in Stanwell was raided by cops
- Home Secretary Amber Rudd has said the UK's threat level has been lowered from critical to severe
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Bomb-making materials are understood to have been hidden in the £350,000 terraced home behind the foster parents’ back, but police have not confirmed this.
Earlier it was reported that the family of a teen suspected of being the Parsons Green bucket bomber were "not happy" he was being fostered in a Christian house, it has been claimed.
A close friend of MBE couple Penny and Ron Jones said she had spoken to the 18-year-old and offered to take him to her church in Feltham to help "settle in".
However the lad, who is believed to be from a Muslim family in the Middle East, resisted.
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A mum-of-two, who would not give her name, said: ''I know Penny and Ron and they are lovely, of course. To open your door to so many children shows you what they're like.
''I saw the boys, they were quiet. I asked the younger one if he wanted to come to my church to help settle in and meet people but he didn't want to come.
''His family are not happy he is with a Christian family.''
She added: ''They are Middle Eastern I think. They are very quiet, they don't really say much.''
Ian Harvey, a politician in Sunbury, Surry, said he had learnt of boy's background from neighbours of the foster parents and publicly available information.
"One thing I understand is that he was an Iraqi refugee who came here aged 15 - his parents died in Iraq," he said.
Tabitha Jenkins, 47, who lives a few doors down from Penny and Ron, said the couple would never have tried to enforce their beliefs on the children.
Ms Jenkins said: ''They [the boys] are actually very polite.
''I don't know their names, I think they had two 18 year old boys.
''They were not unruly at all. 'They were refugees, but I don't know which country.
''Penelope and Ronald were Christian, but you don't enforce religion on the children.''
The 18-year-old - the youngest to be arrested over a terror attack in the UK - is being quizzed by cops after he was seized in Dover on Saturday.
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A second man was arrested late on Saturday police confirmed on Sunday
The 21-year-old man was arrested in Hounslow shortly before midnight last night.
Cops are now searching another house, said to be linked to the address, in Stanwell.
The 18-year-old reportedly "froze" as he was surrounded by cops at 7.50am after being tracked by facial recognition technology following the London Tube attack that injured 30.
Five hours later, armed police raided a home in posh Sunbury-on-Thames that belongs to Ron and Penny, who received an MBE in 2009 for fostering hundreds of kids.
Close friends say the couple had a problematic foster child who they claim was arrested two weeks ago over an unrelated incident.
It is thought he may be the suspect.
Despite that Home Secretary Amber Rudd today said Donald Trump's suggestion that the bucket bomb suspect was known to police was “pure speculation”.
Asked about Donald Trump’s tweets on the attack, Ms Rudd joined the chorus of criticism, saying: “It’s never helpful to have speculation about an ongoing investigation and I would include the President of the United States in that.”
She said his claim that Scotland Yard had the bomber “in their sights” was not based on an intelligence leak and was “pure speculation”.
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Neighbour Carrie Hill, 38, said: “Police told me there was a bomb found in the garden and firearms hidden under the floorboards.
"I was on my way out when I saw about 20 armed police officers surround the house.”
Neighbour Serena Barber, 45, said Ron and Penny Jones were currently looking after two foster boys.
She said: "They were looking after two boys - one who was quiet and the other who was pretty rowdy."
"I've been told they were Syrian - but I haven't seen them myself.
"One was quite a handful and always in trouble. The other was quiet."
She added:"Ron and Penny are a really lovely couple - they've been here for years.
"Penny's a wonderful foster mother. She takes everyone, she doesn't turn anyone away."
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Alison Griffiths, a Surrey county councillor who knows Mr and Mrs Jones, said they had two young people staying with them - an 18-year-old and a 22-year-old.
She described Mr and Mrs Jones as "great pillars of the community", adding: "They do a job that not many people do."
Ms Griffiths, 42, said the couple may not be able to return home for days as police continue to search their house.
She said: "I think they are actually staying with friends of theirs.
"But I spoke to the police officer earlier and he said he doesn't think they will be going home until at least five days because of forensics."
In an interview Penny, 71 told how she and Ron had fostered 268 children and the last eight have been refugees.
Former prison officer Penny said: “We’ve had a real mix – Iraq, Eritrea, Syria, Albania and Afghanistan."
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“We put decorations up to celebrate and he was fascinated with them.
“We sat as a family and he was so grateful for the gift of just being together in a place he could call home. He was happy.”
Neighbours said kind-hearted Ronald and Penelope had retired but recently began fostering again because of the plight of young refugees displaced from countries such as Iraq and Syria.
They are understood to have been helping Surrey County Council with its Syrian vulnerable persons relocation scheme.
The council started the scheme after the UK government pledged to take in an extra 20,000 Syrian refugees in response to the migrant crisis.
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It has also been reported that residents who were moved out of their homes have been told they can't go home tonight.
Former neighbour Nikki Nicholass, who lived on Cavendish Road, said the elderly couple - who have six children of their own - had recently taken in displaced refugees and described them as "amazing".
She told Sun Online: "The house that was raided belongs to an elderly couple who used to foster and were helping social services by homing refugees."
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She added: "They only started again recently as they had stopped due to old age. It's awful this is happening to them.
"They are amazing."
Another neighbour added: "They are such a lovely couple - they would do anything for anyone.
"They were huge figures in the local community, and had such big hearts.
They are such a lovely couple - they would do anything for anyone
"They must have fostered hundreds of children over the years, from all over. It didn't matter to them, they cared for everybody."
Mrs Jones said fostering "had its ups and downs", adding: "They're all children, it doesn't matter if they're sky blue or with pink dots on them - they just need to be loved."
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She added: “We’ve had kids on drugs who’ve smashed up the house. We’ve tried our best but sometimes had to speak to the social worker.”
And – talking of how they moved on to fostering children from abroad – Penny explained: “We had a space and received a phone call telling us there was an emergency case – a young refugee.
"We just found it more rewarding for us to foster refugee children so made a conscious decision foster them going forward.
“People think the language will be a huge problem but it isn’t.
“But you have to have time. You need to be able to go to the Home Office with them.
“You need to get them a solicitor. You have to have patience and remember they’ve been through a lot.”
The teen arrested in Dover is currently being quizzed on suspicion of terror offences at a local police station.
Home Secretary Amber Rudd today said that it seemed the Parsons Green bomber was not a lone wolf, but added: “It’s too early to reach any final conclusions on that.”
She told the BBC’s Andrew Marr Show: “This has been a year like no other - we’ve seen five serious attacks and six that were foiled by the police.”
TEEN ARRESTED IN FERRY TERMINAL
The chief suspect in the Parsons Green bombing was seen being interrogated by two unarmed police officers moments before his arrest in Dover.
Tourist Daniel Vaselicu, 31, had been sitting with a friend in the waiting area at the ferry hub when he saw the man being approached by officers at 7.30am on Saturday.
The departure area was empty apart from the individual, who was said to be young and light-skinned, but not English, the Romanian baker said.
He appeared calm as the officers interrogated him for 10 minutes, leading Mr Vaselicu to believe he was simply homeless.
Moments later, after Mr Vaselicu had left for a coffee and a cigarette, the officers arrested the 18-year-old, who police believe planted the bomb on a packed District Line train on Friday.
A massive counter-terrorism operation then erupted, which saw the ferry terminal evacuated as a precaution.
Mr Vaselicu, who was forced to hang around the area after his car was seized on his way into Britain, told the Press Association: "We were in the seating area at the terminal, the police were interrogating this guy for around 10 minutes.
"It was around 7.30am, he was young, around 25 or under.
"He was white, not Arabic, but he wasn't English - there was only one person there.
"Then we went to the town centre, I wanted to smoke a cigarette and have some coffee, my opinion was that he was a homeless guy and that's why they were interrogating him.
"He was looking normal, not fighting or worried, concerned."
A witness told the Mirror: "He didn’t see it coming. As the officers arrived behind him he froze and appeared stunned.
"It was all done very quickly and quietly. There was no sign of a struggle.
"It was difficult to see him or what he looked like because they moved towards him so fast."
Armed police evacuated residents on Cavendish Close at around 1.40pm yesterday afternoon.
Terrified residents were told they had "one minute" to get out of their house as police sealed off the quiet cul-de-sac.
Officers from the Metropolitan police and Surrey police have put a 100m cordon in place in the area, which is a 37 minute train ride from Wimbledon - where the bombed Tube started its journey.
After receiving her MBE in 2009, Mrs Jones said: "We open our hearts to all the children. Anybody that comes to us we will do whatever we can do to help them with whatever they need."
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It comes after Theresa May raised the UK terror threat level to "critical" amid fears the “cowardly” extremists behind the Parsons Green blast could strike again.
Security has now been beefed up across the UK, with 1,000 extra armed cops patrolling UK streets and train stations in the wake of the terror attack.
Officers holding guns were also seen at football matches today as Britain remained on high alert.
Terror cops confirmed they are hunting multiple attackers after ISIS claimed a jihadi "squad" was behind the explosion that sent a "fireball" through a packed carriage.
The crude DIY bomb, packed with nails and screws, was reportedly made with TATP, an explosive also known as “Mother of Satan”.
Traumatised witnesses told how they saw a baby "close to the wall of flames” that sent blood-soaked commuters running for their lives at rush-hour.
The Prime Minister said troops are being sent to guard nuclear power stations and other key sites, freeing up 1,000 more armed cops to patrol the streets following the attack.
“The Joint Terrorism Analysis Centre has now decided to raise the national threat level from severe to critical - this means their assessment is that a further attack may be imminent," she said.
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"The public will see more armed police on our transport network and streets to provide extra protection.”
Mrs May’s announcement marked the first time since May’s Manchester Arena bombing that the threat level has been at its highest.
Experts say the bucket bomb could have killed dozens but a suspected faulty timer detonated earlier than planned and failed to ignite the main bomb.
The device, which is being examined by Ministry of Defence scientists, was similar to the failed bombs in the July 21 attacks on the London transport network in 2005.
Former army bomb disposal officer Chris Hunter said the Parsons Green bomb is likely to have been made with TATP – an explosive used by Al-Qaeda and ISIS terrorists.
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