Man sentenced for helping jihadist scout UK defence base

Mohammad Bashir drove Jihad Al-Shamie on a 10-hour round trip to the UK Defence Academy in Shrivenham, Oxfordshire, where the pair carried out hostile reconnaissance for a possible terrorist attack, a court heard at Manchester Crown Court. Bashir appeared for sentencing after pleading guilty to one count of preparing to commit a terrorist act with Al-Shamie.

Bashir, 31, was described in court as a “long-standing, committed jihadist”. The Crown Prosecution Service said he had been charged with four terrorism offences in total, including assisting in the preparation of acts of terrorism and disseminating terrorist publications online. He later pleaded guilty at the Old Bailey in London to the preparation charge.

Prosecutors said Bashir’s role was separate from the October 2 synagogue attack itself. That attack was carried out by Jihad Al-Shamie at Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation Synagogue in Manchester in October 2025, when two people were killed. Police said Al-Shamie claimed allegiance to ISIS during the assault, and investigators later examined associates linked to him, including Bashir.

The case has drawn attention because Bashir was not accused of carrying out the Manchester killings, but of helping to prepare a different target. By driving Al-Shamie to the UK Defence Academy for surveillance, he turned extremist intent into operational risk against a military site, with the same network now linked to both a religious target in Manchester and a defence facility in Oxfordshire.