From Jewish News, the Manchester Evening News and The Telegraph
A man who planned a terror attack with his friend who went on a fatal knife rampage at a Manchester synagogue less than two months later has been jailed for life with a minimum term of 17 years.
Mohammad Bashir, 31, drove Jihad Al-Shamie, 35, on a 10-hour round trip to conduct hostile reconnaissance at the UK’s Defence Academy in Shrivenham, Swindon, on August 14 last year, Manchester Crown Court heard.
The court heard the pair developed the plan to target Israeli Defence Force (IDF) soldiers who they believed were being trained there.
. . . al-Shamie carried out an internet search for “IDF soldiers UK”. The search generated an article about Israeli army officers who had been studying at the Royal College of Defence Studies.
Al-Shamie declared: “Allahuakhbar, allahuakbar [God is great]” and added: “There is no doubt that there will be Israeli IDF guys there.”
Bashir added: “You got to look into it, bro, look into it. This is the place, this is the place.”
CCTV picked up a smiling Bashir saying that he planned to die as a martyr, the court heard.
He told al-Shamie: “Wow akhi wow. This is like, this time next year, we will be in green birds.”
Al-Shamie replied: “It’s exciting akhi. Inshallah [God willing] may Allah accept you akhi.
The pair had also discussed getting “war ready” and how al-Shamie had “had enough of this world” in messages on phones held by the police but only examined after the attack.
On October 2, two men were killed in a separate incident as worshippers gathered at Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation synagogue to mark Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the year for Jews.
Syrian-born UK citizen Al-Shamie, who wore a fake suicide belt, was shot dead by police outside the building.
Last month Bashir, of Cheetham Hill, Manchester, pleaded guilty to the preparation of terrorist acts. He was not charged in connection with the Heaton Park attack. Prosecutors said that had he lived, Al-Shamie would have been prosecuted alongside Bashir on the same charge.
Prosecutors said there was no evidence to suggest the defendant had any involvement in the Heaton Park incident but the planned attack on the defence facility was similar in nature and would have caused multiple fatalities.
Sentencing Bashir on Thursday, Mrs Justice Cheema-Grubb told him that by August last year he had become a “firmly committed jihadist” and together with Al-Shamie was “equally engaged” in planning an attack on a British military target “in which you and he expected to kill and be killed”.
She rejected his claim to a probation officer that he no longer held extremist views and regretted his actions. The judge said: “I consider you remain dangerous. You have given no grounds that your attitude has really changed at all.”
Mohammad Bashir, 31, from Cheetham Hill, was told he must serve at least 17 years behind bars, but may never be released.
Greater Manchester Police have today apologised for missing an opportunity to investigate … Jihad Al-Shamie before he carried out the deadly attack. Mobile devices belonging to Al-Shamie, who was on bail for rape at the time, had been seized by detectives before Melvin Cravitz and Adrian Daulby were killed at Heaton Park synagogue in October last year.
Those devices contained evidence of an ‘extremist mindset’, GMP Chief Constable Sir Stephen Watson said today, but hadn’t been examined by the time the 35-year-old stabbed two worshippers to death
