Shoe bomb suspect brainwashed, says dad

LONDON, England (CNN) -- Robin Reid told a UK newspaper on Friday his son, Richard, was "determined enough" to commit suicide but would never have harmed others unless he was "brainwashed."

Richard Reid, 28, is suspected of trying to ignite plastic explosives in his shoes aboard a U.S.-bound commercial airplane. He is scheduled to appear in a U.S. federal court for a bail hearing on Friday.

"He's not a bad lad," the elder Reid told The Daily Mirror. "I can't imagine him doing anything like this without being involved with somebody else."

Reid is charged with interfering with a flight crew. His flight left Paris last Saturday bound for Miami, but it was diverted to Boston after a flight attendant saw him trying to set fire to one of his shoes.

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The British national was subdued and sedated by passengers and crew members. The FBI said his shoes contained sophisticated plastic explosive.

"My son is a determined boy and I can imagine him being determined enough to blow himself to bits," said Robin Reid, who has spent 18 years in jail, according to the London tabloid.

"But I just can't believe that he would want to hurt anyone else in doing it -- unless, that is, he has been brainwashed, which seems the case. He would not have done it off his own bat without being coaxed, talked into it."