Man accused of 'bomb hoax' that brought Sheffield to standstill claimed 'MI5 are trying to kill me'
“You’re not negotiators from South Yorkshire Police! You’re MI5!”
The man allegedly responsible for a 32-hour-long police siege that brought Sheffield to a standstill in 2025 claims he thought MI5 were trying to kill him.
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The police incident on February 10 last year saw one of the busiest routes in the city, Park Square Roundabout, shut in all directions for 100m.
It came in response to a man in a top-floor flat of the nearby Gateway residential block, on Broad Street, allegedly claiming he had guns, grenades and explosives.
Now, a trial is underway at Sheffield Crown Court where Yaqub Younis, 49, is charged with communicating a bomb hoax, public nuisance, affray and criminal damage.
‘Bomb hoax’
A jury today (June 3) heard how Younis allegedly frightened neighbours into evacuating by claiming he had “18kg of explosives” in his flat and would “pop” the building.
“The events began at around 7pm on February 10,” said prosecutor Annabel Darlow KC, “when this defendant began telling his fellow residents he had grenades and explosives and they should evacuate.
“It is the prosecution’s case these were deliberate lies to distract from his offending.”
Younis denies all charges.
The siege begins
The jury heard 999 calls were placed after Younis began telling neighbours he had guns and explosives in his flat, with one caller saying “my neighbour’s gone crazy.”
A resident in a flat beneath Younis’ saw items like a flat screen television landing on his balcony. When he looked up, he saw “a hooded man with a torch” throwing his possessions out the window, the court heard.
First responders included paramedics and police officers, who Younis told through the closed door to his ninth-floor flat how he “wanted £20,000” and “I’m going to start shooting off my balcony.”
‘Assassins from MI5’
Ms Darlow KC detailed many claims Younis would make to officers during the siege about being stalked by crime agencies.
She told the jury: “It is not expected you will hear any expert evidence about Yaqub Younis’ mental health.”
Younis reportedly claimed he had been “spied on by the National Crime Agency for days,” believing he was being followed by surveillance cars and that things had been moved around his flat.
“He said he had been holed up in his flat for several days and ‘they weren’t going to take him alive,’” said the prosecutor.
“He said ‘the operation had failed’ and that he had been speaking with MI5.
“He said he had a bulletproof vest, and they would ‘need to shoot him in the head’. Officers calmly said no such thing was going to happen.”
‘Critical incident’
By 7.44pm, South Yorkshire Police declared a critical incident and hundreds of residents were evacuated from their flats. Around 200 people would spend the next two days taking shelter in the nearby Ponds Forge sports centre.
By 8.15pm, armed officers had taken position in the corridor to Younis’ flat, and the siege began.
Negotiators spoke to Younis from a balcony below his flat, and a police drone was deployed to see inside the apartment.
The prosecutor said: “[During the following hours] this defendant said the officers were assassins sent by MI5 to kill him.
“He said that he would chop off [a negotiator’s] nose and that ‘I’m going down and I’m taking one of you with me’.”
The jury saw several clips of bodyworn footage from officers at the scene, including one from a negotiator on the balcony.
Younis was heard shouting: “You’re not negotiators from South Yorkshire Police! You’re MI5!”
“That doesn’t make sense,” replied the officer. Younis told him to “use common sense, look at how much has happened these last two days.”
‘Officer asked to use Younis’ toilet’
Over time, Younis reportedly lapsed into periods of quiet and refusing food, eventually telling officers he “had made it up,” and throwing his bulletproof vest out the window.
However, he was seen waving a cleaver out the window and threatened to harm anyone who entered the flat.
By around 3am on February 12, officers had used a power tool to cut open Younis’ door “so they could see him,” but did not enter. The 49-year-old had barricaded the flat with furniture.
But, around 32 hours after the siege began, one of the officers outside Younis’ flat asked if they could use his toilet. He agreed, and helped the officer over the barricade.
Shortly afterwards, more officers entered the flat and Younis was arrested.
In custody, he tested positive for Class A drugs.
Officers recovered a large number of phones and tablets from the flat. Several phones were in a sink covered with water.
Younis’ ‘machine gun’ was reportedly a police truncheon and a piece of plastic taped together.
Police interview
Later on February 12, Younis claimed in a police interview he had felt “confused” in the flat and believed the officers were involved in an MI5 plot to kill him.
He reportedly claimed that, prior to the siege, he had seen “two men jump off his roof,” one of which was “an Asian man in a mask and military uniform carrying a machine gun.”
He further claimed he was being watched by criminal organisations and the NCA over a “tax investigation.”
The trial continues.