A FRIEND of the Manchester synagogue killer has been jailed for life over a plot to attack Israeli soldiers in the UK two months before the Heaton Park attack.
Mohammad Bashir, 31, drove terrorist Jihad al-Shamie on a reconnaissance mission to a Ministry of Defence training centre.
They planned to target Israeli Defence Force soldiers they believed were being trained at the UK Defence Academy in Shrivenham, Oxon, Manchester crown court heard.
Bashir drove al-Shamie’s Kia car on the ten-hour round trip in August 2025 and spent 15 minutes in the area.
During the visit al-Shamie walked into reception and wrote about the security on his phone in a note headed “espionage”.
Afterwards, both men dumped their phones, Jonathan Polnay KC, prosecuting, told the court.
In October, al-Shamie drove his Kia Picanto into a guard outside Heaton Park synagogue then stabbed him in the neck, killing him.
Cops arrived minutes later and shot dead al-Shamie who was wearing a fake suicide belt.
The court heard al-Shamie, 35, had been arrested twice before the attack and had his phones seized.
But officers only examined them after he was dead — and found al-Shamie and Bashir were in a WhatsApp group called “Aspiring to the Ranks of the Elite”.
Bashir, of Cheetham Hill, Manchester, sent 2,000 messages to the group, showing he was a “long-standing, committed jihadist” and “close associate” of al-Shamie.
Mr Polnay said an assault on the defence academy would have caused “multiple fatalities” and would have had “national and international impact”.
Days after the synagogue attack, Bashir left the UK for a wedding in Pakistan but was arrested at Manchester airport when he returned.
He admitted preparing a terrorist attack and sharing terrorist material encouraging martyrdom on WhatsApp.
Sentencing Bashir to life with a minimum term of 17 years, Judge Mrs Justice Cheema-Grubb said their plan was to strike in a similar way to the synagogue attack “using handheld weapons and a dummy suicide vest to cause as much bloodshed as possible”.
The Independent Office for Police Conduct is investigating all previous contact between cops and al-Shamie.
‘MISSED OPPORTUNITY’
POLICE yesterday apologised after officers failed to check Jihad Al-Shamie’s phones.
He was arrested twice, including for a suspected rape, prior to carrying out the deadly Manchester synagogue attack last October.
His devices were seized both times but not examined.
Greater Manchester Police Chief Constable Sir Stephen Watson said it was a “missed opportunity” as the contents were evidence of “an extremist mindset”.
He admitted it will add to the “distress of those affected by the terrible events”, adding: “I am deeply sorry.”
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