A man who planned a terror attack on a Ministry of Defence site with his friend, who would go on to carry out the fatal knife attack at Heaton Park 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 Jewish men, Melvin Cravitz and Adrian Daulby, 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 British citizen al-Shamie, who wore a fake suicide belt, was shot dead by police outside the building after ramming his Kia Picanto into the gates and attempting to gain entry to the building wielding a large knife.
During the sentencing hearing, the court heard that Bashir was “a long-standing, committed jihadist”.
Prosecutor Jonathan Polnay KC said: “The attack that was being planned was of the sort that Jihad al-Shamie in fact carried out on October 2, an attack involving weapons that would cause multiple fatalities and have national and international impact.
“Analysis of Bashir and al-Shamie’s messages to each other demonstrated they were both close associates and both shared an extremist worldview.
“They were both interested in, and regularly discussed, violent jihad.”
Last month, Manchester-born Bashir, of Shaftesbury Road, Cheetham, who also holds a Pakistani passport, pleaded guilty to the preparation of terrorist acts. He has no previous convictions.
Bashir was arrested at Manchester Airport on November 27 but was not charged in relation to the synagogue attack.
“I wish we had a weapon”
MoD Shrivenham is the home of the UK 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.
CCTV footage of the two men at the al-Sunnah Mosque in Cheetham Hill also formed a key part of the prosecution case, the court heard.
On August 8, the pair sat at the back of the mosque believing, “erroneously as it transpired”, that their activities would not be captured on camera or that their conversations would be heard.
The next day, the pair were captured talking alone together in the main prayer room, where al-Shamie was heard to say: “I wish we had a weapon. We need to get one. Crossbow. Is there a way for us to go in?”
Later in the same conversation, Bashir said: “You got me really excited.”
Al-Shamie replied: “Once we go there, we’re not coming back. Once we go to the mission.
“Prepare to say bye to loved ones, any last debts we could pay off or any fines.”
As they exit the mosque, Al-Shamie said: “It’s exciting.”
Bashir replied: “This is like, this time next year, we will be in green birds.”
Polnay said a terrorism expert had noted that in Islamic literature, the “green birds of paradise are intimately linked to notions of martyrdom”.
However, prosecutors said Bashir and al-Shamie were motivated by their antisemitic views in targeting the defence base, and that al-Shamie had made several internet searches for IDF soldiers training in Britain.
From late August, the attention of al-Shamie appeared to turn to the Heaton Park synagogue, the court was told, with searches relating to that location and people associated with it such as local rabbis.
He also looked online for meat cleavers and “travel bags for them”, followed by a search on September 22 for “Yom Kippur massacre of nature”.
“Missed opportunity”
Following the sentencing, Sir Stephen Watson, chief constable of Greater Manchester Police, apologised after admitting that al-Shamie’s phones were seized by officers in an arrest prior to the attack but were not examined until after his deadly knife rampage.
Watson said the error was a “missed opportunity” to uncover evidence of al-Shamie’s “extremist mindset” prior to the attack.
He said: “In conducting an internal review, it became apparent that GMP had seized al-Shamie’s mobile devices at the point of each arrest. The significance of the data contents of these devices was substantial in respect of evidencing an extremist mindset.
“Regrettably, I can confirm that the significance of the information stored on al-Shamie’s devices was not realised as they had not been examined before the attack took place on the 2nd of October 2025.
“It is for the IOPC [the police watchdog] and the Coronial Inquests to determine the impact of not reviewing the contents of the devices.
“There can, however, be little doubt that the information contained within these devices would have inspired further investigative action.
"It is clear that our not having reviewed the data available to us prior to the attack constitutes a missed opportunity.
“I am disappointed at the prospect of adding to the distress of all of those affected by the terrible events last October. For this, I am deeply sorry.”
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