Mohammed Sidique Khan, 30, was caught on CCTV strolling through a branch of Asda the day before the atrocity.
With him was fellow-bomber Shehzad Tanweer, 22. He filled the trolley with icepacks, used to cool the gang’s deadly home-made explosives, the July 7 inquest was told.
The grainy pictures show the killers carrying out their final preparations for the attacks, which left 52 dead in London.
Other CCTV footage revealed for the first time yesterday showed some of the Islamic extremists shopping for bomb-making equipment at B&Q.
Khan was also caught on a hospital camera taking his pregnant wife Hasina Patel for a check. Three of the bombers were later captured on film during a ‘reconnaissance mission’ around London on June 28, a week before the 2005 bombings.
The pictures show the men surrounded by busy commuters and other innocent passers-by.
Some witnesses who saw them on their final journey into London, on July 7 itself, described how they had thought the ‘smiling and laughing’ men were going on holiday, or members of a sports team.
Businessman Joseph Martoccia said the suicide bombers gathered in a ‘huddle’ and appeared to be ‘celebrating something’.
Khan, Tanweer and Jermaine Lindsay, 19, detonated three bombs on London Underground trains near Aldgate, Edgware Road and Russell Square.
The fourth bomber, Hasib Hussain, 18, blew up a bus in Tavistock Square.
The inquest into the 52 deaths was shown the footage of Khan, Tanweer and Lindsay as they travelled around London on June 28, on an apparent ‘dummy run’ of the July 7 attacks.
The trio travelled to Embankment, South Kensington and Baker Street, suggesting they had yet to finalise their targets.
On July 4, Khan, Tanweer and Hussain bought light bulbs and pliers from the B&Q superstore in Beeston, Leeds.
A detonator made from a light bulb was later discovered at the gang’s bomb factory in the city. On July 5 Khan was caught on CCTV film taking his wife to Dewsbury Hospital, and on July 6 he and Tanweer bought the 15 icepacks from an Asda in Pudsey, Leeds.
Their £5.29 shopping receipt was later discovered in the wreckage at Edgware Road station.
On July 7 itself, neighbour Sylvia Waugh saw three of the men leaving Leeds shortly after 4am, and their rented Nissan Micra was caught on camera several times as it travelled down the M1 to Luton.
Khan, Tanweer and Hussain stopped at a service station at Woodall to buy petrol, Ginsters cheese and onion pasties, crisps and lemon-flavoured mineral water.
They met Lindsay at Luton and footage from the station showed them putting on the four rucksacks which concealed the bombs, before boarding a train to King’s Cross.One commuter on the Thameslink train said he had thought the men seemed suspicious.
Hospital researcher Carl Sylvester said they were obviously together, but did not speak to each other or make eye contact.
He described the men as looking ‘very solemn’ and ‘a bit dodgy’ and said he had relayed his suspicions to a colleague when he got to work.
After hearing about the bombings, he emailed Scotland Yard later that day to describe the men.
CCTV images showed the gang arriving at King’s Cross and descending into the Underground, close behind a mother walking hand-in-hand with her young daughter. A Tube passenger who saw Hussain inside King’s Cross said he had seemed ‘aggressive and focused’ and was muttering under his breath.
Police analysed thousands of hours of CCTV images after the terror attacks, as they tried to trace the bombers’ route.
Detective Inspector Ewan Kindness, of the Metropolitan Police, co-ordinated the team of more than 100 officers responsible for finding and examining CCTV.
King’s Cross quickly became a key location because all three Tube trains passed through it and the number 30 bus bombed by Hussain stopped nearby, the inquests heard. The bombers were first spotted on July 11 by officers examining a temporary system of 76 cameras at the station.
‘The officer engaged in CCTV recovery was ex-military. He saw four individuals walking through,’ he said.
‘They were walking two-by-two and he thought it was significant. They were carrying large rucksacks.
‘He brought it to my attention and I concurred with him that it was a priority for us.’
Hugo Keith QC, counsel for the inquest, said some of the footage had given rise to ‘conspiracy
theories’ that it had been doctored by police to support their investigation.
Detective Inspector Kindness denied the claims, saying: ‘There has been no skullduggery.’
The hearing continues.
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