🔗 Share this article

The individual responsible for the violent assault at a Jewish house of worship in Manchester was free on police bail related to an alleged rape at the time, according to reports.

Jihad al-Shamie, who was 35 years old, was under investigation over an alleged sex crime that is said to have happened earlier this year.

The attacker, of Syrian origin, is believed to have previous criminal convictions, however he was not being monitored from counter-terrorism officials.

The assailant was killed by police gunfire by responding police following the murder of a member of the Jewish community and caused serious harm to multiple other individuals during the attack at the Heaton Park synagogue in Manchester's northern area last Thursday.

Two men, Adrian Daulby, 53 and Melvin Cravitz, 66, lost their lives during the incident. One victim was fatally hit a bullet fired by officers aimed at the attacker.

Anti-terror units and intelligence agencies are currently investigating the attacker's background, as it is believed that he chose the holiest day in Judaism, the highest holy day in the Jewish year, to target worshippers.

Although the attacker had not been flagged to anti-terror organizations or enrolled in the Prevent deradicalization program, he had faced prosecution for prior crimes.

The exact timing the reported rape occurred, but Shamie had been bailed while under investigation by local law enforcement.

An insider stated that he possessed other criminal convictions, albeit for less serious crimes with no connection to terrorist activities.

“He was on nobody’s radar for terrorism but he certainly possessed a criminal record, though no indication he was going to do anything like this,” an informant remarked.

Police are examining whether Shamie was behind a threatening message to a former Conservative MP in 2012.

A message to John Howell was sent by someone calling themselves “Jihad Alshamie” and stated, “It is people like you who deserve to die.”

Howell, who stepped down as Henley's representative in 2024, expressed uncertainty if it was the same person and believed that police had not taken the threat against his life seriously enough at the time.

Media coverage from 2012 indicated that he was likely targeted due to his pro-Israel stance.

“I don’t want to seem overdramatic, but you have to take seriously a menacing message when it says, ‘I would like to see you dead,’” the former MP said in 2012, according to coverage from media outlets.

“It is not just a question of me, it is my family and my staff. All it takes is one person out there who is weird enough, with a warped perspective of life, to make an attempt to carry this out.” He noted that local police had given him “highly effective security advice.”

Police have yet to verify whether the “Jihad Alshamie” who messaged Howell is the same individual who committed the synagogue attack, but they are investigating a potential connection.

The home secretary, Shabana Mahmood, said that Shamie was not under ongoing scrutiny by anti-terror units or security agencies at the time of the attack. They did not believe he had ever been on their radar, although inquiries were still ongoing.