NICKY Reilly was described as the "least cunning person ever to have been charged with terrorism" as he was sentenced at the Old Bailey.

He was jailed for life with a minimum of 18 years yesterday after pleading guilty to attempted murder and preparing an act of terrorism.

Sentencing the 22-year-old, of King Street, Plymouth, Mr Justice Calvert-Smith said: "The offence of attempted murder is aggravated by the fact that it was long-planned, that it had multiple intended victims and was intended to terrorise the population of this country.

"It was sheer luck or chance that it did not succeed in its objectives."

The court heard that Reilly decided to carry out his attack on the Giraffe restaurant in Exeter after being encouraged by others on the internet.

He had intended to run out into the packed dining area holding three bottles — filled with caustic soda, kerosene, and nails — to his stomach.

But he got stuck in the toilet as he prepared the blast, leaving one of the bottles to go off before he could leave the cubicle.

The judge said: "There is no dispute but that this defendant currently represents a significant risk of serious harm to the public."

He accepted the attack was "an unsophisticated attempt to kill".

Reilly had appeared to be a likeable and law-abiding person and had no previous criminal convictions, the court heard.

The sentencing hearing was briefly adjourned earlier as Reilly's mother Kim broke down in tears in the public gallery.

The court heard that Reilly struggled to make friends and had a low IQ of 83.

Later, when he began to express sympathy with terrorism and in particular the 9/11 bombers, his mother did not take him seriously, the court heard.

Reilly, whose brother, Luke, 21, is serving a jail term for kicking a man unconscious during a robbery, had converted to Islam between 2002 and 2003 and was soon telling others about his interest in jihad.

In 2004, he changed his name to Mohammad Abdulaziz Rashid Saeed-Alim, and began to download videos on bomb-making and martyrdom from YouTube.

He also received encouragement in an internet chatroom from two people with Arabic names, and he described himself as "Ali the Brit".

He considered bombing Plymouth's Charles Cross police station and Drake Circus shopping centre as well as Devonport dockyard.

In a rambling suicide note written in red ink and left in his bedroom, Reilly described how he was motivated by the "disgusting" behaviour of people in Britain as well as the "war on Islam".

He also claimed he had not been "brainwashed or indoctrinated".

But his barrister, Kerim Fuad, said: "He may comfortably be deemed to be the least cunning person ever to have come before this court for this type of offence."

"Had his poor unsuspecting mother not handed him the £10 note that she thought was for him to purchase a CD that morning, he would not have had enough money for the bus fare to Exeter," he added.

Mr Fuad said that the "reprehensible" influence of the internet was partly to blame for what happened.

The length of the sentence was welcomed by Devon and Cornwall Police's Assistant Chief Constable Debbie Simpson.

She said: "The substantial sentence demonstrates the seriousness of his actions and the carnage they could have caused."