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A man has been sentenced to life in prison for plotting a terrorist attack on a British military academy with a friend who later carried out a deadly stabbing attack at a synagogue.
Mohammad Bashir, 31, pleaded guilty at Manchester Crown Court to preparing an act of terrorism and must serve a minimum of 17 years before he can be considered for parole.
Although he was not involved in the synagogue attack on Yom Kippur last October, the investigation into the stabbing uncovered evidence that he and the attacker had planned a similar assault on the UK’s Defence Academy, believing it trained Israeli forces.
“Mohammad Bashir is a determined jihadist and dangerous individual who was planning an attack that could have caused devastation,” the Crown Prosecution Service said in a statement.
“His actions demonstrate a deliberate and sustained commitment to violent extremism.”
Two months before his friend Jihad Al-Shamie carried out the synagogue attack, Bashir drove him from Manchester to the Defence Academy in Shrivenham, Oxfordshire, to scout the site. The pair discussed how they would enter the base, what weapons they would use and how a fake suicide vest could be used during the attack.
“I am sure that you and he anticipated that you would both be martyred and you intended to kill others,” Justice Bobbie Cheema-Grubb told Bashir during sentencing.
“This was a viable plan to attack the Defense Academy in a broadly similar way to that in which that Al-Shamie attacked the synagogue; using handheld weapons and a dummy suicide vest to cause as much bloodshed as possible.”
The planned attack was never carried out, and prosecutors said there was no evidence that Bashir was involved in the synagogue attack.
Greater Manchester Police said on Thursday messages between the two men were found on phones seized from Al-Shamie after earlier arrests in 2025.
The police apologised for failing to review the evidence before the synagogue attack and said the Independent Office for Police Conduct would examine whether the missed messages could have helped prevent it.
“It is clear that our not having reviewed the data available to us prior to the attack constitutes a missed opportunity,” Stephen Watson, Chief Constable of Greater Manchester Police, said.
“I am disappointed at the prospect of adding to the distress of all of those affected by the terrible events last October. For this, I am deeply sorry.”
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