Friend of Manchester synagogue attacker jailed for plot on military base

A man who planned an attack on a military base with the Manchester synagogue attacker has been jailed for life with a minimum term of 17 years.

Mohammad Bashir, 31, drove his friend Jihad Al-Shamie on a 10-hour round trip to conduct hostile reconnaissance at the UK’s Defence Academy in Shrivenham, Oxfordshire, on 14 August 2025.

Weeks after that journey, Al-Shamie, 35, was shot dead by police after carrying out the Heaton Park Synagogue attack, in which two Jewish men were killed.

Bashir, from Cheetham Hill, was sentenced at Manchester Crown Court after pleading guilty to one count of preparing an act of terrorism.

Sentencing Bashir, Mrs Justice Cheema-Grubb told him that by August last year he had become a “firmly committed jihadist”.

He and Al-Shamie were “equally engaged” in planning an attack on a British military target “in which you and he expected to kill and be killed”, she said.

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 walked from the dock.

Counter terror police uncovered Bashir’s friendship with Al-Shamie after reviewing his phones following the attack on the synagogue in October 2025.

The pair held extremist views and had discussed preparing for “war” and frequently made antisemitic remarks in WhatsApp conversations, Greater Manchester Police (GMP) said.

Bashir drove Al-Shamie to Shrivenham while Al-Shamie made notes about security arrangements at the base on his phone under the title “espionage”.

They stopped at the site, which trains personnel from the British military and Civil Service as well as foreign students, for just 13 minutes and returned home the same day.

Both disposed of their phones after the trip, but officers accessed cloud data linked to their devices, and discovered Al-Shamie had searches using the terms ‘weapons, potential target sites, and individuals with links to the Israeli military’, GMP said.

Police had analysed two phones seized from Al-Shamie earlier in 2025, 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 GMP, has issued an apology over the “missed opportunity” to gather intelligence on Al-Shamie before he launched his attack on the synagogue.

CCTV of Bashir and Al-Shamie discussing plans for the Oxfordshire attack was also found by police.

The men were spotted on 9 August on CCTV at the Al Sunnah Mosque in Manchester, where they mistakenly believed they had hidden from the cameras and that their conversations would not be overheard.

Assistant Chief Constable Rob Potts said Manchester-born Bashir was a “dangerous individual”.

The prosecution previously said the pair planned an attack on the UK Defence Academy involving weapons “that would cause multiple fatalities and have national and international impact.”

But Potts said there was no evidence that Bashir knew about the plans to attack Heaton Park Synagogue.

Melvin Cravitz and Adrian Daulby were killed after Al-Shamie, from Prestwich, drove his Kia Picanto into the gates of the synagogue and began attacking people with a knife.

Worshippers had gathered to mark Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the year for Jews.

Al Shamie, who was wearing a fake suicide belt, was killed by police gunfire at the scene.

Bashir went to Pakistan following the synagogue attack, but was arrested at Manchester Airport when he returned.

His defence team had argued he had had a “change of heart” after the reconnaissance trip, but the judge rejected this.

Potts added: “Bashir is now facing the consequences of his actions and I hope his sentence will act as a deterrent to anybody considering taking part in extremist activity.”

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