The brother of the 2017 Manchester Arena bomber had today been sentenced to life in jail. Hashem Abedi was found guilty by a jury of 22 counts of murder in what was described by the Daily Mail as “Britain’s biggest terror trial”. Hashem Abedi’s verdict was delivered at the Old Bailey in his absence. This as a result of Mr Abedi sacking his legal team in the last week of the trial and deciding to take no further part in his trial.
Hashem Abedi was charged with the 22 murders by the Crown Prosecution Service even though he was in Libya at the time of the suicide attack by his older brother. Duncan Penny QC who was for the prosecution told the jury that Hashem Abedi was “just as responsible for this atrocity, as surely as if he had selected the target and detonated the bomb himself”. Detective Chief Superintendent Simon Barraclough led the investigation, said that Hashem and his brothers dispensed with a series of phones they were using for the plot.
Simon Barraclough stated that the result was an “absolutely enormous criminal prosecution. It was the recognition that he was directly responsible for killing each of those 22 people in the same way Salman Abedi was. That was quite important”. The only form of defence Hashem offered, made via his previous lawyers, was that he was scared of his older brother.
The court was told that as part of Salman Abedi’s final preparations for the attack included a trip to the Manchester Arena where Take That were performing the first of six dates as well as shopping for thousands of metal nuts at outlets including Screwfix and B&Q. Mr Barraclough said that whilst these preparations were being made: “I think he is ringing his brother and at that point he’s getting that last-minute inspiration that last-minute advice and he’s telling him what he’s about to do. These two brothers are literally hand in glove in this process”.
The Daily Mail is reporting that Salman refused to attend court as part of various complaints, one being that he was allergic to tap water provided in the dock. Most of the victims’ families watched proceedings via videolink from courts in Manchester, Glasgow, Newcastle and Leeds.
Rather than courtroom drama, they witnessed the prosecution team present the painstaking police investigation with dogmatic determination. Victoria Higgins who represented 11 of the bereaved families, said: “Families have waited a long time to see Hashem Abedi face justice for his crimes and I think the overwhelming emotion for most will be one of relief that he cannot hurt anyone else. The frequent delays and disruption Abedi has orchestrated during an already lengthy trial has only added.
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Current Affairs Correspondent | My name is Oliver Down I am 22, and a staunch brexiteer. I am a Bristolian lad who studied politics in Leicester. I believe in free speech and accurate journalism and I won’t be afraid to give you “the other side” of the story!
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