Exclusive:Man accused of Park Square Roundabout bomb hoax arranged shotgun shooting in 2010, court hears
Younis was a wanted man during the siege at The Gateway on Park Square Roundabout
A man who brought Sheffield to a standstill by claiming he had a bomb was hiding from gangs from his criminal past, a prosecutor said.
Yaqub Younis, 49, is on trial over an incident in February 2026 that saw police siege The Gateway residential building on Broad Street for 32 hours.
He told a jury at Sheffield Crown Court this week how he lied about having “20kg of explosives” in his top-floor flat because he believed MI5 was trying to kill him.
But today (June 16), Prosecutor Annabel Darlow KC suggested Younis had in fact been “paranoid” because he thought his “criminal past was catching up to him.”
“I’m going to suggest the reason you were living in Sheffield,” said the prosecutor. “Was because one, you were wanted on recall to prison.
“And two, because you scared about a criminal gang from your past?”
“No,” said Younis.
Shotgun shooting in Stoke
During the siege in February 2026, Younis was wanted by West Midlands Police on recall to prison for over two years.
In June 2010, restaurant owner Mohammed Asfar was shot in the leg with a sawn-off shotgun by two masked men in Stoke. He survived the attack.
Five men were later jailed for conspiracy to murder - and Younis was sentenced in 2018 after a jury ruled he was the “communications officer” in the attack.
However, the convictions of all five men, as well as Younis’, were quashed in the Court of Appeal, and were instead sentenced for conspiracy to commit grievous bodily harm.
Younis today affirmed to the jury he took part in the plot to do Asfar serious bodily harm.
It was for this offence Younis was wanted on recall to prison after breaching license conditions.
‘Criminal gangs’
The jury has repeatedly seen bodyworn camera footage from the siege of Younis telling officers they were all “assassination squads sent from MI5.”
There has been no expert evidence about his mental health.
He has also repeatedly said in evidence he believes to this day his life is in danger and that security services are out to murder him.
Younis said today: “I’m not a paranoid person, generally.”
But Ms Darlow suggested Younis is effectively making up the idea MI5 was after him, and that he was instead afraid of retribution from a criminal gang.
Ms Darlow said: “You told police in interview, ‘I believe the people who came to attack me were in a criminal organisation, they have nothing to do with the authorities’.
“So what you were really saying is you were making up stuff in the police interview? Because, you said, one of the officers in the room was, in reality, an MI5 agent?”
“You should put that to her,” said Younis.
He also suggested one of the police officers previously called for evidence in the trial “is not the same man I spoke to last year” - seemingly to suggest they are also an agent of some kind.
‘What were you doing in Sheffield?’
“You have been involved with criminal gangs in your past?” said the prosecutor.
“You were asked in police interview if that was the reason you were in Sheffield, and you said no.”
“I felt intimidated,” said Younis. “And that doesn’t detract from the fact I was about to be killed in that apartment by people who claimed they were police.
“I was on the run due to custody recall, not for any criminal elements.
“I lived peacefully in that flat. I caused no trouble.”
“I would suggest that in February 2025 you were living in a state of some paranoia?” said the prosecutor.
“No, I was not,” said Younis.
The trial continues.