A “dangerous” man obsessed with explosives, who once asked to throw a grenade on BBC children’s show Jim’ll Fix It, has been jailed for causing an explosion at his family home.
Matthew Haydon suffered injuries to his chest and hands in the blast at the four-bedroom house in the Bedfordshire village of Sharnbrook on April 10 last year.
Afterwards Haydon, 48, told police of a longstanding interest in weaponry, citing his childhood request to the former BBC children’s show, which was presented by serial sexual abuser Jimmy Savile from 1975 to 1994.
Haydon, who wore a waistcoat and shirt in the dock, was also made the subject of an indefinite criminal behaviour order, which prevents him from creating explosive devices and acquiring or possessing chemicals used in the manufacturing of homemade explosives.
Sentencing him on Friday, Mr Justice Johnson described Haydon as “dangerous”.
“You have always had an obsession with explosives and explosions,” Mr Justice Johnson said.
“You synthesised high explosives which are extremely sensitive with extremely dangerous consequences.
“You knew the potential for these explosives to endanger life or property.
“In short, you are dangerous.”
The judge said he considered it necessary to impose the extended sentence to “protect members of the public from serious harm”.
During the trial, the court heard Haydon said he had been “researching” explosives after being affected by what had happened at an Ariana Grande concert, in an apparent reference to the Manchester Arena suicide bombing.
He was found guilty by a majority of causing an explosion likely to endanger life or property this April.
Previously, prosecutor Margia Mostafa said the defendant had lived with his mother at the family home of 45 years.
His mother, who had been away for the weekend, returned home on April 10 2023 and heard a loud bang from Haydon’s home laboratory, jurors heard.
Haydon was shouting “help me, help me”, having suffered burns and bleeding.
The court was told that Haydon’s mother put him in the shower to relieve the injuries and called 999.
His mother told the operator Haydon’s hands were “mangled”, the court heard.
Neighbours also heard a loud thudding boom, felt their house shake and saw that the defendant’s window had smashed, jurors were told.
After being treated in hospital, Haydon was interviewed by police and admitted causing the explosion, the court heard.
He said he had always been “obsessed with all kinds of weaponry, explosives in particular”.
“I think I wrote off to Jim’ll Fix It to ask if I could throw a hand grenade,” he said.
He told officers he was “researching about explosives” because of “what happened at the Ariana Grande concert”.
He said it had affected him “quite badly”, adding: “It upset me, yeah.”
The defendant also told police he had issues related to attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).
Police searched his home laboratory and seized chemicals, equipment, electronic devices and handwritten notes, jurors heard.
On his laptop were instructions for explosives, and there was evidence that he had bought chemicals online, the court was told.
A review of his internet history revealed he had researched the “penalty for illegal possession of explosives”, while videos recovered from his devices showed him testing explosives and chemical reactions in public areas as well as inside his home, police said.
Bedfordshire Police said during his trial witnesses described seeing him “shooting targets in his garden and burning things on top of his fridge freezer in the garden”.
Others reported seeing him in the woods dressed in “military uniform with a shooters belt kit”.
Jurors were shown footage of Haydon carrying out various experiments with explosives, which were found on a camera.
In one video, Haydon was heard commenting on a passing dog walker before detonating a device strapped to a tree.
A few days before the blast in his house, Haydon had messaged a contact about an incident in which his “life flashed in front” of him.
Samples of chemicals seized from the house were found to include sensitive high explosives triacetone triperoxide (TATP) and hexamethylene triperoxide diamine (HMTD).
Damage to Haydon’s T‐shirt and an orange glove he had been wearing showed he had been in “close proximity” to the explosion, the court heard.
Chemical analysis of samples taken from the clothing indicated that HMTD was the explosive charge.
Haydon accepted he had mixed chemicals which caused an explosion, but disputed that the level of explosive used was sufficient to endanger life or property.
Giving evidence, he told jurors he had been “complacent” and should have worn protective clothing.
He said: “If you don’t give that substance the respect it is due it will turn around and bite you. And that’s what happened – I got complacent.”
Haydon, of Loring Road, Sharnbrook, showed no emotion as he was sentenced.
Detective Inspector Rich Stott of Bedfordshire Police Major Crime Unit said: “The explosion Haydon caused underscores the dangers of unlicensed handling of explosive materials.
“By his own admission, a residential bedroom is not the appropriate place for materials of this nature to be stored or experimented with. As such, Haydon has no-one else to blame but himself. This was a dangerous obsession that quite easily could have taken his life and that of the people around him.
“The circumstances of this case serve as a stark reminder to the severe legal and physical consequences tied to such activities.”
