A WOULD-BE suicide bomber caused chaos when he threatened to blow himself up – and his father.

When police raided Connor Ward's Aberdeenshire home they found an array of chemicals and recipes for making explosives.

Neighbours had to be evacuated from their homes while Ward's flat in Water Lane, Banff, was searched.

The High Court in Edinburgh heard Ward, 20, bore a grudge against his father Alexander because he had fathered a child by his son's ex-girlfriend. He also claimed his father abused him as a child, prosecutor Tim Niven-Smith said.

On May 18, experts moved in as a 100-metre exclusion zone was set up, involving more than 70 officers.

At the same time, police visited Ward in the Royal Cornhill Hospital, Aberdeen, where he was a voluntary patient and he told them he intended to use a bomb to kill his father.

The laptop he had with him also revealed a large volume of books and other literature on bomb-making, the court heard..

He pled guilty to a breach of the Criminal Justice and Licensing (Scotland) Act by making threats, and to possessing explosive substances in suspicious circumstances.