Manchester Arena bombing trial: Hashem Abedi found guilty of murder

The brother of the Manchester Arena bomber has been found guilty of murder today.

Hashem Abedi, the brother of Salman Abedi who detonated a bomb at the Manchester Arena in 2017, was found guilty of 22 counts of murder after a six-week trial.

The 22-year-old from Fallowfield helped his brother build the bomb, which killed or injured almost 1,000 people at an Ariana Grande concert on May 22^nd, 2017.

The attack has been deemed one of the deadliest in the UK since the London 7/7 bombings in 2005.

Hashem Abedi was “just as responsible for this atrocity … as surely as if he had selected the target and detonated the bomb himself”, prosecutors told the Old Bailey in London.

The senior investigating officer on the night of the attack, Detective Chief Superintendent Simon Barraclough, said Abedi “is a man who is equally responsible as his brother for this horrendous attack, this monstrous attack.

“The way he has conducted himself since he landed demonstrates even more the jihadi mindset that would be supportive of the sick ideology of IS (Islamic State).”

Barraclough added that Abedi hadn’t expressed “one jot of emotion” or remorse throughout the trial, although he was often absent from court for different reasons, including a claim that he was allergic to chlorinated water and felt ill after drinking it. 

Hashem was involved with building a device designed to “kill, maim and injured as many people as possible in the detonation,” the court heard during the trial.

“This explosion was the culmination of months of planning, experimentation and preparation by the two of them. The defendant through his conduct encouraged and assisted his brother Salman to carry out this attack.”

The bomb constituted an explosive vest worn by Salman Abedi, used to murder fans as they left the foyer area of the Arena, where families were picking up young concert-goers after the show had finished.

It included a combination of shrapnel such as nuts and screws, alongside hydrogen peroxide and sulphuric acid cased inside old vegetable oil cans.

Hashem’s fingerprints and DNA were found in the Arena after the attack, alongside traces of TATP, a homemade explosive.

The two brothers tested prototypes of Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) around Manchester, made from equipment that Salem took from a pizza takeaway in Stockport, or bought using the bank details of “gullible” friends and family.

The trial was streamed live at courts in Manchester, Newcastle, Leeds and Glasgow for families affected by the attack.

Family members present in the courtroom were heard crying as the victim’s names were read out to the jury.

Hashem Abedi helped his brother murder: Saffie Roussos, 8; Sorrell Leczkowski, 14; Nell Jones, 14; Eilidh MacLeod, 14; Olivia Campbell-Hardy, 15; Megan Hurley, 15; Chloe Rutherford,17; Georgina Callander, 18; Liam Curry, 19; Courtney Boyle, 19; John Atkinson, 26; Martyn Hett, 29; L Philip Tron, 32; Kelly Brewster, 32; Angelika Klis, 39; Marcin Klis, 42; Lisa Lees, 43; Elaine McIver, 43; Michelle Kiss, 45; Alison Howe, 45; Wendy Fawell, 50; Jane Tweddle, 51.