Manchester Synagogue Attack First Direct Terror Charge Made Months After Fatal Shooting

A 49-year-old Iraqi man has become the first person to face a direct terror charge over the deadly attack at Manchester's Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation, in which two worshippers were killed and three others seriously injured during Yom Kippur on 2 October 2025.

Counter Terrorism Policing North West said on Thursday that Hekmat Omar Ali Hakim, of St James Road, Higher Broughton, Salford, has been charged under section 38B of the Terrorism Act 2000 with failing to disclose information regarding terrorist activity. Officers said the allegation 'relates directly' to the Heaton Park attack, in which congregant Melvin Cravitz and worshipper Adrian Daulby died.

Three other men were taken to hospital with serious injuries; all have since been discharged. Hakim has been remanded in custody and is due to appear at Westminster Magistrates' Court on Friday 21 August 2026.

Charge Signals Investigation Moving Beyond Primary Attacker

Assistant Chief Constable Rob Potts, who holds operational responsibility for Counter Terrorism Policing North West, described the charge as a milestone in the investigation. 'I can confirm that, earlier today, officers from Counter Terrorism Policing North West charged a man with failing to disclose information regarding terrorist activity,' he said in a statement.

'This charge is directly related to the terrorist attack which took place at the Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation Synagogue last October.' He said his thoughts remained with 'the bereaved loved ones and survivors'.

Potts added that investigators had 'been unwavering in our commitment to establishing the full picture behind the incident and identifying anybody who may have been involved in any way'. He said the charge followed 'a substantial amount of meticulous work by the investigation team, supported by the Crown Prosecution Service'.

Police say at least eight people have now been arrested in connection with the Manchester synagogue attack. Hakim is the first to face a charge tied directly to the events of that October morning.

The charge against him is narrower than one relating to the attack itself, focused specifically on an alleged failure to pass on information about terrorist activity. There is no suggestion he took part in planning or carrying out an attack, and he is entitled to the presumption of innocence as the case proceeds through the courts.

The Yom Kippur Attack and the Police Bullet That Killed a Worshipper

The Yom Kippur attack saw Jihad Al Shamie, a 35-year-old Syrian-born British citizen, ram his car into the synagogue gates, hitting a security guard, before launching a knife attack. Cravitz was fatally stabbed, while Daulby was killed by a single police bullet as he held the synagogue doors shut, preventing the attacker from getting inside.

Al Shamie, wearing what turned out to be a fake suicide vest, was shot dead by armed officers moments later. The new charge follows weeks after a linked extremist was jailed over a separate plot involving the same attacker.

In July, 31-year-old Mohammad Asim Bashir was sentenced to life imprisonment, with a minimum term of 16 years and 135 days, after pleading guilty to preparing an act of terror. Court records showed Bashir drove Al Shamie on a ten-hour round trip on 14 August 2025 to the UK Defence Academy in Shrivenham, Oxfordshire, to carry out what prosecutors called hostile reconnaissance.

Investigators later uncovered WhatsApp messages between the pair in which they shared antisemitic material and discussed martyrdom, with Bashir described at sentencing as a 'long-standing, committed jihadist'. Weeks after that reconnaissance mission, Al Shamie carried out the Manchester synagogue attack.