The Liverpool bomber has been named by police as 32-year-old Emad Al Swealmeen, who came to Britain as a refugee from West Asia but converted to Christianity four years ago and took on the name Enzo Almeni.

On occasions, he worked as a pizza chef. He hero worshipped the Italian racing driver Enzo Ferrari whose first name he adopted. There are plenty of happy photographs of the future suicide bomber, with little to suggest he was a terrorist in the making.

He died inside a taxi on Sunday outside the Women’s Hospital in Liverpool when the device he was carrying exploded, engulfing the vehicle in flames.

All this is now clear from the video footage that has emerged showing the moment the explosion takes places as the taxi arrives at the hospital.

The taxi driver, David Perry, 45, is seen lunging out of his vehicle after the explosion but before it bursts into flames.

His wife Rachel confirmed her husband was now back home though he was “extremely sore” and “try to process what happened”.

“The truth of the matter is, he is without a doubt lucky to be alive,” she said. “The explosion happened whilst he was in the car and how he managed to escape is an utter miracle. He certainly had some guardian angels looking over him.”

Police have found the rented address in Liverpool where Swealmeen — the surname must have been a form of Suleiman — made his bomb and from where he summoned a taxi on Sunday morning.

But his motivation remains unclear though there is a suggestion he was angry that his attempts to secure formal asylum status were repeatedly turned down.

Now that he has been named the police are asking people who may know anything about him to come forward.

The best information so far has come from Christian pensioners, Elizabeth and Malcolm Hitchcott, who took him in for six months in 2017 but lost touch with him during the lockdown.

The couple revealed that “Enzo” was sectioned under the Mental Health Act for about six months in 2014 after being caught with a large knife. That was apparently after a claim for asylum was turned down. He spent six months in hospital.

“We just loved him, he was a lovely guy,” said Elizabeth.

“Enzo” converted to Christianity in Liverpool Cathedral in March 2017, her husband said.

Malcolm, a former soldier, went on: “He first came to the cathedral in August 2015 and wanted to convert to Christianity. He took an Alpha course, which explains the Christian faith, and completed it in November of that year. That enabled him to come to an informed decision and he changed from Islam to Christianity and was confirmed as a Christian by at least March 2017, just before he came to live with us. He was destitute at that time and we took him in.

“He was Syrian through his father but I gather he spent much of his life in Iraq, where his mother came from. He was good company. We would sometimes go on days out, myself, Enzo and my wife.

“But his behaviour changed ever so slightly towards the end of the period he lived with us. He stated to ask odd questions. I remember he came into the kitchen once and said, ‘Is there anything you want to ask me?’

“I was a bit taken aback and replied, ‘No, why do you ask?’ He then showed me a letter addressed to him that had been torn at the top of the envelope and he accused me of opening it to see what was inside. But I hadn’t at all.

“Myself and my wife went on holiday in November 2017 and told Enzo he could stay at our house while we were away but he said he wanted to leave and get his own place.

“He left and we had little contact with him from then on in, apart from when he invited us to a Christmas carol concert in December 2017. My wife saw him before lockdown and he seemed to be in very good spirits. The fact that he’s blown himself up in a taxi in a terrorist attack has really shocked me. As far as I knew his only interest was go-karting and Formula 1.”

There is now an established pattern in Britain to refugees turning against the country that has given them shelter and taking up terrorism.

Bishop of Liverpool Paul Bayes told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme he had “no doubt” the Hitchcotts would feel numb. “So many people of all the different faiths try to reach out in the name of the common good, try to make themselves available for love, and when that’s taken advantage of, or when things happen which subsequently you can’t understand why that’s happened, that does shake you.”

Police have released four men who were picked up on possible terrorism charges.

Assistant Chief Constable Russ Jackson of Counter Terrorism North West said: “It is not clear what the motivation for this incident is. Our enquiries indicate that an improvised explosive device has been manufactured and our assumption so far is that this was built by the passenger in the taxi.”