UK Synagogue Terrorist Was Out on Bail for Rape

The Manchester synagogue terrorist was on police bail for an alleged rape when he carried out the attack, the Guardian can reveal.

Jihad al-Shamie, 35, was being investigated over an alleged sexual attack which it is understood was said to have taken place earlier this year.

The Syrian-born attacker is also believed to have criminal convictions, although he was not on the radar of counter-terrorism officers or of MI5.

Shamie was shot dead by armed police after killing a Jewish man and seriously injuring several others when he attacked the Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation synagogue in north Manchester on Thursday.

The revelation emerged as:

• Greater Manchester police said it appeared that armed officers at the synagogue accidentally shot one of the two victims killed during the terrorist attack and that they probably injured another after opening fire on the attacker.

• Sources disclosed that counter-terrorism police were examining whether Shamie was responsible for a death threat sent to a former Conservative MP in 2012.

• Keir Starmer called for people to “respect the grief of British Jews” after activists planning to demonstrate against the ban on Palestine Action on Saturday said cancelling the event would “let terror win”.

• David Lammy, the justice secretary and deputy prime minister, was heckled and booed as he addressed a vigil close to the scene of the attack. He faced calls of “shame on you”, “go to Palestine, leave us alone” and “you have blood on your hands”.

• Police named the two dead men as Adrian Daulby, 53, and Melvin Cravitz, 66. Relatives of Cravitz said he was a “gentle giant” who “would never harm a fly”. A Muslim neighbour of Daulby described him as “one of the most fantastic men I ever knew in my life”.

• Rabbi Daniel Walker, who was leading a service at the synagogue at the time of the attack, told how the attacker shouted “I’m going to get you” as he tried to force his way in.

Counter-terrorism police and security services are working to piece together the background of the attacker, who is believed to have chosen the holiest day in the Jewish calendar, Yom Kippur, to target worshippers.

The Guardian has been told that Shamie was not known to counter-terrorism agencies and had not been referred to the anti-radicalisation scheme Prevent but he had been prosecuted for criminal matters.

It is not known when exactly the alleged rape took place but at the time of the synagogue attack Shamie was on bail while under investigation by Greater Manchester police.

One source said Shamie had criminal convictions for lesser offences not related to terrorism.

“He was on nobody’s radar for terrorism but he definitely had a criminal record, though nothing to suggest he was going to do anything like this,” said a source.

Police are examining whether Shamie was responsible for a death threat sent to a former Conservative MP in 2012. The email to John Howell came from someone calling themselves “Jihad Alshamie” and said: “It is people like you who deserve to die.”

Howell, who stood down as MP for Henley in 2024, said he did not know if it was the same person and he did not feel the police had taken the death threat seriously enough at the time.

A news report from 2012 said Howell was believed to have been targeted over his support for Israel. “The last thing I want to appear as is a drama queen, but you have to take seriously a threat when it says ‘I would like to see you dead,’” Howell said in 2012, in remarks reported by the Jerusalem Post.

“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 distorted view of life, to make an attempt to carry this out.” He said Thames Valley police had provided him with “extremely good security advice”.

Police have not confirmed whether the “Jihad Alshamie” who messaged Howell was the same person who carried out the synagogue attack but they are looking into whether there is a link.

It was later reported that the attacker’s father, Faraj al-Shamie – who has worked as an emergency trauma surgeon for several non-governmental organisations in conflict zones including South Sudan, Afghanistan and Mali – had previously posted on his Facebook page in support of the 7 October attacks on Israel, claiming they had been perpetrated by “men of God on Earth” and describing the attacks as a “miracle by all standards”.

Keir Starmer visited Manchester with his wife and offered “a very humble thank you” to the emergency services, but the response of the armed officers at the scene on Thursday is set to be under the spotlight.

On Friday morning the Greater Manchester police chief constable, Stephen Watson, issued a statement saying a Home Office pathologist had provisionally determined that one of the victims died of a gunshot wound.

One of three people receiving treatment in hospital for serious injuries is also said to have received such an injury, leading to the conclusion that both were close together keeping the synagogue door shut to the attacker when officers opened fire.

Watson said: “It is currently believed that the suspect, Jihad al-Shamie, was not in possession of a firearm and the only shots fired were from GMP’s authorised firearms officers as they worked to prevent the offender from entering the synagogue and causing further harm to our Jewish community.

“It follows therefore that subject to further forensic examination, this injury may sadly have been sustained as a tragic and unforeseen consequence of the urgently required action taken by my officers to bring this vicious attack to an end …

“We have also been advised by medical professionals that one of the three victims currently receiving treatment in hospital has also suffered a gunshot wound, which is mercifully not life-threatening.

“It is believed that both victims were close together behind the synagogue door as worshippers acted bravely to prevent the attacker from gaining entry.”

At a vigil close to the synagogue, Lammy, who was appointed deputy prime minister last month, told a crowd that the country “stood in solidarity with the Jewish people, because an attack like this is never felt alone”, but he received a hostile reception from the start of his address.

As he began with the word “friends”, there were scoffs and laughter and a cry was heard of “stop the marches”. Lammy had to pause several times as the shouting continued.

Joanne Sheldon, 61, from Radcliffe, Bury, said she turned her back when Lammy began to speak. She said: “We didn’t know he would be speaking here and when we found out we just thought: why is he here? Jewish people don’t feel it’s safe in Britain now.”

Her friend Hayley Lawson, 49, said hatred was being stirred up by pro-Palestine marches.

Ahead of a planned demonstration against the ban on Palestine Action this Saturday, Starmer wrote in the Jewish Chronicle that protesters should recognise that this was a time of mourning.

“Peaceful protest is a cornerstone of our democracy – and there is justified concern about the suffering in Gaza – but a minority have used these protests as a pretext for stoking antisemitic tropes,” he wrote.

Walker, the rabbi, spoke of the shocking moment the attacker attempted to force his way inside the building.

He described the “very, very brave men” who helped him hold the doors as the attacker repeatedly tried to get inside while brandishing a knife and shouting threats.

He told ITV: “When I first arrived at the synagogue there was some kind of incident outside the gates. Someone behaving suspiciously and aggressively.

“Half an hour into the prayers I heard an almighty bang from outside, shouting. Someone was trying to get in with a knife. When he tried to get inside the synagogue, there was a large number of us trying to hold him off.”

Walker became emotional as he recounted the abuse shouted by the attacker as he tried to get inside.