The neighbour, who did not want to be named, said she was “really concerned” and reported it to Greater Manchester Police in the summer of 2020 or 2021. She said she “never” would have reported it “if I weren’t [concerned].”
She recalled al-Shamie’s relative would even refuse to speak to the neighbours for a time, and that he “was coming up the road preaching to kids about the Quran. It was quite intimidating. It was intrusive,” she said.
The neighbour also reported being invited to their house for dinner after they first moved to the area around 15 years ago, but things changed after the family’s father moved out. The family’s mother was “really nice” and a “strong woman” who raised three boys herself, the neighbour said.
One resident in Prestwich, north Manchester said neighbours noticed a change in some of the family during Covid: “I would talk to them all the time and then [one member of the family] just started rocking up in the robes. He went from not going down that path to going down that path,” they said.
They alleged that the relative and al-Shamie and his “followers” would “congregate” in their home’s front garden. “They didn’t have any white friends,” a neighbour said, “I thought: what the heck is going on? It wasn’t just praying in the garden – it was private and secret.”
It is also alleged that police visited the al-Shamie family home earlier this year over apparent safeguarding concerns. The Guardian said it was were told al-Shamie “became reclusive” about 20 years ago after suffering what “brain damage” when he fell off a cliff as a teenager.
It was revealed last week that al-Shamie was on police bail under investigation for an alleged rape when he attacked the synagogue, which was about two miles from the family’s home.
Greater Manchester Police said in a statement: “We are aware of reports circulating which suggest Jihad Al-Shamie had previously been reported to police due to concerns over possible extremist behaviour. This is inaccurate. We stand by the previous statement that Jihad Al-Shamie was not known to Counter Terrorism Policing.”
