Associate of Manchester synagogue attacker planned terror attack on MoD base, court hears

A man planned a terror attack on a UK defense base along with the man who stabbed multiple people at a Manchester synagogue, a court has heard.

Mohammed Bashir, 31, described as a “long-standing, dedicated jihadist”, took Jihad Al-Shamie, 35, on a 10-hour round trip to conduct hostile reconnaissance at the UK Defense Academy at Shrivenham in Swindon on August 14 last year.

The couple then deliberately threw away their mobile phones.

Less than two months later, on October 2, Al-Shamie carried out the terrorist attack at the Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation synagogue in which two worshipers were killed.

Al-Shamie was later shot dead by police.

Manchester Crown Court heard that following the attack, WhatsApp messages and voice note exchanges between the pair were revealed when police analyzed two phones seized when Al-Shamie was arrested in February 2025 for allegedly breaching a harassment ban and when he was arrested on suspicion of rape in September 2025.

Prosecutor Jonathan Polnay KC said: “The prosecution case demonstrates that Mohammed Bashir is a long-standing, committed jihadist.

“The planned attack was an attack of the type carried out by Jihad Al Shami on October 2, involving weapons that would cause many deaths and have a national and international impact.

“Analysis of Bashir and Al-Shamie’s messages to each other showed that they were both close partners and both shared an extremist worldview.

“Both were interested in violent jihad and argued regularly.”

Last month, Bashir, of Shaftesbury Road, Cheetham, pleaded guilty to preparation for terrorist acts.

Manchester-born Bashir, who also carries a Pakistani passport, has no previous criminal record.

Bashir was arrested at Manchester Airport on 27 November but was not charged in connection with the synagogue attack.

Melvin Cravitz, 66, and Adrian Daulby, 53, died when Al-Shamie, a Syrian-born British citizen, drove a Kia Picanto towards the door of the synagogue and attacked them with a knife while wearing a fake suicide belt.

MoD Shrivenham is the home of the UK Defense Academy, which provides professional defense and security training to the British Armed Forces, the wider UK government, UK industry and overseas personnel, the court heard.

There will routinely be up to 4,000 staff, contractors, students and visitors on site at any one time.

The two-day sentencing hearing continues.

The court heard CCTV footage of the two men at Al-Sunnah Mosque in Cheetham Hill also formed a key part of the prosecution case.

On August 8, the two sat at the back of the mosque, “mistakenly” believing their activities would not be recorded on camera or their conversations would be overheard.

The next day, the pair were caught talking alone in the main prayer room, where Al-Shamie was heard saying: “I wish we had a gun. We need to get one. A crossbow. Is there any way we can get in?”

Later in the same conversation, Bashir says: “You really excited me.”

Al-Shamie replies: “When we go there, we won’t go back. When we go on mission, we won’t go back.”

“Prepare to say goodbye to your loved ones, to the last debts or fines we can pay.”

“It’s exciting,” Al-Shamie says as they exit the mosque.

Bashir replies: “This time next year we will be in the green birds.”

Mr Polnay said a terrorism expert had noted that in Islamic literature “green birds of paradise are closely linked to the concept of martyrdom”.

The Crown said Al-Shamie’s Picanto stopped at the MoD base for about 15 minutes in the late morning of August 14.

At that time, Al-Shamie made an entry in his iPhone notes titled “Spying”: “Go in, there is a table on one side, two old women are sitting there.

“There’s a corridor behind them. Two rooms are open on either side. At the back of the building, women come and go, there’s a door that leads to the search bay.”

Mr Polnay said: “This is clearly a description of the Defense Academy’s reception area.”

The duo met at the Al Sunnah mosque on August 15 and then sat together at Picanto in the parking lot.

While in the vehicle, Al-Shamie conducted numerous searches on the internet, including “defence academy swindon”, “UK military blue uniform” and “suicide vest fancy dress”.

The Crown said there was no evidence that Bashir was involved in the planning of the attack in Heaton Park.

But prosecutors said Bashir and Al-Shamie’s targeting of the defense base was motivated by anti-Semitic views, and that Al-Shamie made several internet searches for Israel Defense Forces (IDF) soldiers training in Britain.

From the end of August, Al-Shamie’s attention appears to have turned to the Heaton Park synagogue, and searches were made regarding the location and people associated with it, such as local rabbis, the court heard.

He also searched online for meat cleavers and “travel bags for them,” and then on September 22, he searched for “yom kippur nature massacre.”

The court heard Al-Shamie stabbed one man to death and injured three others at the Heaton Park synagogue, while a stray bullet struck and killed another man, police said.

Sentencing will be handed down by Mrs Justice Cheema-Grubb from 10am on Thursday.