Accomplice of Manchester Synagogue Attacker Gets Life Sentence
A UK court sentenced Mohammad Bashir to life imprisonment for plotting a terrorist attack with the Manchester synagogue attacker. Bashir was convicted of planning an assault on a Defence Academy.
A British court on Thursday handed a life sentence to Mohammad Bashir, an associate of Jihad aš Šamī, who carried out a deadly knife attack at a Manchester synagogue last October, killing two people before being shot by police. Bashir was arrested at Manchester Airport in November last year upon returning from Pakistan.
Prosecutors stated there was no evidence linking Bashir to the synagogue attack, but revealed that he and aš Šamī had planned an attack on a Ministry of Defence building. In August last year, the two men scouted the Defence Academy in Swindon together. The judge described Bashir as a "hardline jihadist" and noted that both were "equally involved and enthusiastic" about the planning. She concluded that the plan was well-prepared, with only weapons missing.
Bashir pleaded guilty last month to charges of preparing terrorist acts. Investigations uncovered that over six months, he sent more than 2,000 messages in an Islamist chat group with aš Šamī and ten others, many advocating physical violence for jihad. Under the sentence, Bashir must serve at least 17 years before being considered for parole.
