London Tube bomber's accomplice became council 'poster girl' after bosses failed to uncover criminal record

A woman who helped a would-be London bomber escape secured a council job after lying about her history, it has emerged.

Mulumebet Girma was jailed for helping failed suicide bomber Hussain Osman flee after his plot to kill Tube passengers on July 21, 2005.

She helped him escape to Brighton before he took a Eurostar to Paris and ended up in Rome, where he was arrested.

After being released, Ms Girma was employed by Southwark Borough Council in south London, as reported in The Sun.

The former model even became a "poster girl" for the local authority, which put her on the cover of a council magazine, Southwark Housing News, to promote an apprenticeship scheme.

She failed to tell her employer about her criminal record and has since been sacked, the council said.

Ms Girma, also known as Mulu, was 24 in 2008 when she was jailed for 10 years, which was reduced to five after an appeal.

She had been found guilty of assisting an offender and failing to disclose information about Osman's involvement in the attempted attacks.

She was sentenced alongside Osman's wife - and her sister - Yeshi Girma, then 32, who is serving 11 years and 9 months in prison.

Eleanor Kelly, chief executive of Southwark Council, said: "The individual concerned no longer works for Southwark Council.

"As soon as her background came to light we took immediate action and terminated her employment. She did not disclose her full offence to the council.

"During her employment this individual never had access to police watch list data.

"We have fully reviewed her activity while she was employed at the council, including her computer usage, and no wrongdoing was uncovered.

"We have also undertaken a robust review of our processes and procedures in light of this incident."

Osman, along with Muktar Said Ibrahim, Yassin Omar, and Ramzi Mohammed, tried to detonate rucksacks laden with explosives on three Underground trains at Shepherd's Bush station, Oval station and Warren Street station, together with a bus in Hackney Road, killing themselves and passengers, but the bombs failed to go off.

The attempted attacks came two weeks after four suicide bombers struck in central London, killing 52 people and injuring more than 770.

They were jailed for life in July 2007 after being convicted at London's Woolwich Crown Court of conspiracy to murder.

At their trial, the four had maintained that the events of July 21 were an elaborate hoax designed to protest against and draw attention to Britain's role in the attack upon and occupation of Iraq.