UK Defence Academy Terror Plot: Manchester Man Guilty Plea

A Manchester man who drove a would-be attacker on a covert reconnaissance mission to a major UK military installation has pleaded guilty to preparing a terrorist act — in a case that reveals the operational relationship between two men sharing a commitment to violent jihad.

The sequence of events that brought Mohammad Bashir, 31, before Manchester Crown Court began in early August 2024, when Bashir and Jihad Al-Shamie, 35, were recorded on CCTV at the Al-Sunnah Mosque in Cheetham Hill. On August 8, the pair positioned themselves at the back of the mosque, apparently believing — erroneously, as the prosecution put it — that their activities would not be captured on camera and their conversations would not be overheard.

The following day, the two men were again filmed speaking alone in the main prayer room. Al-Shamie was recorded saying: “I wish we had a weapon. We need to get one. Crossbow. Is there a way for us to go in?” Bashir’s response — “You got me really excited” — was entered into evidence. Al-Shamie then added: “Once we go there, we’re not coming back. Once we go to the mission. Prepare to say bye to loved ones, any last debts we could pay off or any fines.” As they left the mosque, Bashir told Al-Shamie: “This time next year, we will be in green birds.” A terrorism expert cited by the prosecution noted that in Islamic literature, the green birds of paradise are closely associated with martyrdom.

Five days later, on August 14, Bashir drove Al-Shamie on a ten-hour round trip to the UK Defence Academy at Shrivenham, in Swindon — a facility that, the court heard, routinely hosts up to 4,000 staff, contractors, students and visitors at any given time, providing professional defence and security education to the British Armed Forces, wider government, industry and overseas personnel. Al-Shamie’s Kia Picanto stopped at the base for approximately fifteen minutes. Shortly afterwards, Al-Shamie made a note on his iPhone under the heading “Espionage,” recording details of the reception area: the layout of the front desk, the corridor behind it, flanking rooms, and a rear door leading to a search bay. Prosecutor Jonathan Polnay KC told the court: “This is plainly a description of the reception area of the Defence Academy.”

The day after the reconnaissance, the two men met again at the Al-Sunnah Mosque before sitting together in the Picanto in the car park. During that time, Al-Shamie conducted multiple internet searches, including “defence academy swindon,” “uk military blue uniform,” and “suicide vest fancy dress.” That same afternoon, Bashir and Al-Shamie disposed of their mobile phones — a deliberate act, the prosecution argued, consistent with operational security awareness.

The WhatsApp messages and voice notes that formed the evidentiary core of the case against Bashir were not recovered from those discarded devices. They were extracted from two phones seized from Al-Shamie on separate occasions: first in February 2025, when he was arrested over an alleged breach of a non-molestation order, and again in September 2025, when he was held on suspicion of rape. The communications, Polnay told the court, demonstrated that the two men were close associates who “regularly discussed violent jihad” and shared an extremist worldview. The prosecution also presented evidence that anti-Semitic motivation shaped the targeting of the defence base, with Al-Shamie having conducted multiple searches for Israel Defense Forces soldiers training in Britain.

From late August 2024, Al-Shamie’s focus shifted. Internet searches began to centre on the Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation synagogue in Manchester and individuals associated with it, including local rabbis. He searched online for meat cleavers and bags to carry them. On September 22, he searched for “yom kippur massacre of nature.”

On October 2, Al-Shamie drove his Kia Picanto into the gates of the Heaton Park synagogue. He then attacked worshippers with a knife while wearing a fake suicide belt. Melvin Cravitz, 66, and Adrian Daulby, 53, died as a result of the attack — one stabbed by Al-Shamie, the other struck by a stray bullet fired by police. Three further worshippers were injured. Al-Shamie, a Syrian-born British citizen, was shot dead by police at the scene.

Weeks later, on November 27, Bashir was arrested at Manchester Airport. He was not charged in connection with the synagogue attack itself. The prosecution stated explicitly that no evidence placed him in the planning of that assault. Last month, Bashir — of Shaftesbury Road, Cheetham, holding both British and Pakistani nationality and carrying no prior convictions — pleaded guilty to the preparation of terrorist acts. Sentencing is to be passed by Mrs Justice Cheema-Grubb on Thursday morning.