Friend of Manchester synagogue attacker jailed for life over MoD terror plan

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. 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. 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. MoD Shrivenham is the home of the UK’s Defence Academy, the court heard, which provides professional defence and security education to the British armed forces, wider UK government, UK industry and overseas personnel. Routinely, there will be up to 4,000 staff, contractors, students and visitors on site at any given time. 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.” Following sentencing, Manchester-born Bashir, who also holds a Pakistani passport, smiled to family members in the upper public gallery of the courtroom as he casually walked from the dock. Following the synagogue attack, WhatsApp messages and voice note exchanges between the pair were uncovered when police analysed two phones seized from Al-Shamie earlier in 2025. The devices were confiscated from him when he was arrested in February over an alleged breach of a non-molestation order and in September on suspicion of rape. Sir Stephen Watson, Chief Constable of Greater Manchester Police, issued an apology over the “missed opportunity” to gather intelligence on Al-Shamie before he launched his attack. The court heard that police also obtained a warrant to examine Al-Shamie’s online iCloud and iPhone storage data, while CCTV footage of the two men at the Al-Sunnah Mosque in Cheetham Hill also formed a key part of the prosecution case. Both wrongly thought they had hidden from cameras and their conversations would not be heard as they discussed their plans.

Published: 23/07/2026 by Radio NewsHub