Mohammad Bashir, 31, has been sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum of 17 years after plotting a terrorist attack on the UK Defence Academy in Shrivenham. A Manchester born Mohammad Bashir, Bashir pleaded guilty at Manchester Crown Court to one count of preparing an act of terrorism.
The court heard that Bashir conducted hostile reconnaissance alongside Jihad Al-Shamie, the man who later launched a deadly knife attack at the Heaton Park Synagogue on October 2, 2025. While Bashir was not charged in connection with the Heaton Park attack, prosecutors established that the pair shared an extremist world view and regularly discussed violent jihad.
The prosecution case is that Mohammed Bashir is a long standing, committed jihadist,
stated Jonathan Polnay KC, who prosecuted the case.
A 10-Hour Mission to Shrivenham
Bashir and Al-Shamie, 35, met at their local mosque and lived in Crumpsall and Prestwich respectively. On August 14, 2025, Bashir drove Al-Shamie’s car on a 10-hour round trip to Shrivenham, Oxfordshire. Their target: the Defence Academy, a college for the UK Armed Forces that trains British military and Civil Service personnel as well as foreign students.
The pair stayed in the vicinity for approximately 13 to 15 minutes. During the visit, Al-Shamie used his iPhone notes app to create an entry titled “espionage,” describing the base’s reception area: Walk in, there’s a desk from one side to the other, two old women sat there. Behind them is a corridor. Either side are two rooms open. Women coming in and out at the back of building there’s a door that leads to a search bay.
WhatsApp Plots and Israeli Targets
Greater Manchester Police (GMP) reported that the pair frequently made antisemitic remarks in WhatsApp conversations and discussed preparing for “war.” They attempted to hide their tracks by disposing of their phones after the Oxfordshire trip, but cloud data told a different story.
Recovered data revealed Al-Shamie had searched for ‘weapons, potential target sites, and individuals with links to the Israeli military’. Prosecutors noted that Al-Shamie believed Israeli soldiers were studying at the academy, though it is unclear if any Israeli officers were present at the time.
The Heaton Park Massacre
Jonathan Polnay KC told the court that the planned attack on the Defence Academy was of the sort that Jihad Al-Shamie in fact carried out on October 2 at Heaton Park Synagogue in Manchester,
and was intended to be an attack involving weapons that would cause multiple fatalities and have national and international impact.
On October 2, 2025, during Yom Kippur morning prayer services, Al-Shamie rammed his Kia Picanto into the gates of the Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation while wearing a fake suicide belt. He stabbed 66-year-old Melvin Cravitz to death. Another man, 53-year-old Adrian Daulby, was killed by a single gunshot wound to the chest fired by a responding police officer. Al-Shamie was shot dead by armed police at the scene.
The Trail to Arrest
Counter terror police uncovered Bashir’s links to Al-Shamie by reviewing phones following the synagogue attack. The timeline revealed a series of missed opportunities: Al-Shamie had been arrested on suspicion of breaching a non-molestation order in February last year, and then on suspicion of rape in September last year. His phone was seized on both occasions.
The devices were only examined by counter terror police after the Heaton Park attack. Bashir was arrested in November. Prosecutors stated that had Al-Shamie lived, he would have been prosecuted alongside Bashir on the same charge.
Sources: BBC.
