Manchester bomber’s brother pleads not guilty to attempted murders in jail | UK news
The brother of the Manchester Arena bomber has been found not guilty of carrying out “terrorist” attacks on prison officers using hot cooking oil and makeshift weapons in a maximum security prison.
Hashem Abedi, 28, appeared at the Old Bailey on Friday via video link from HMP Belmarsh in south-east London. Prosecutor Jocelyn Ledward KC said the case had a terrorism connection and took place “at a session where she was allowed to use cooking equipment”.
Ledward told the court Abedi “attacked and attempted to kill three prison officers with hot oil and makeshift weapons he made himself” and shouted “Allahu Akbar” twice during the attack. A fourth police officer was attacked.
Ledward said there was no indication the defendant had any prior hostility towards the alleged victims but that he had an extremist mindset “particularly given his conviction in connection with the Manchester Arena bombing in 2020”.
Abedi was convicted of aiding his brother, suicide bomber Salman Abedi, who killed 22 people by detonating a homemade device at an Ariana Grande concert in May 2017.
The prison attack took place at HMP Frankland, County Durham, on April 12 this year; Abedi has been held there since being sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum term of 55 years in 2020 for helping organize the Manchester Arena attack; this was the longest minimum sentence ever imposed by a British court.
Abedi, who was not voluntarily represented by a lawyer in court, pleaded not guilty to three counts of attempted murder and one count of causing actual bodily harm.
The trial will begin on January 18, 2027 and is expected to last two to three weeks. The interim hearing will be held on January 30, 2026.
When Judge Bobbie Cheema-Grubb asked Abedi if he wanted to be represented during the hearings, Abedi replied: “Yes, actually I don’t want to participate anyway. That’s why.” He was later arrested and sent to prison.
