LONDON – A British man on June 5 pleaded guilty to helping the perpetrator of a deadly attack on a Manchester synagogue in October 2025 to carry out earlier reconnaissance on a British defence site.
Mohammad Asim Bashir, 31, appeared at London’s Old Bailey court and admitted driving Jihad Al-Shamie to the UK Defence Academy in Oxfordshire, central England in August 2025.
Less than two months later, Al-Shamie drove a car into pedestrians before attacking people with a knife at the Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation Synagogue. One man died from stab wounds and another was accidentally shot dead by the police.
Al-Shamie, a 35-year-old British citizen of Syrian descent, told the police that he was acting for Islamic State before officers shot him dead.
The police said when Bashir was charged, the offence was not directly linked to the synagogue attack. REUTERS
