A man from Higher Broughton has been charged with failing to disclose information about terrorist activity in connection with last year’s attack at Heaton Park synagogue in Manchester, which claimed the lives of two worshippers, as Greater Manchester Police confirm the wider investigation now involves at least eight arrests.
A man has been charged in connection with the terrorist attack at Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation Synagogue in Manchester last October. Greater Manchester Police said Hekmat Omar Ali Hakim, from Higher Broughton in Salford, has been charged with failing to disclose information regarding terrorist activity. Hakim, an Iraqi national whose self-defined ethnicity is Asian, has been remanded to appear before Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Friday. The October attack saw worshippers Melvin Cravitz and Adrian Daulby killed after Jihad Al-Shamie, 35, a Syrian-born British citizen, drove into the synagogue’s gates in Crumpsall before attacking people with a knife.
A wider counter-terrorism investigation
Hakim’s charge forms part of a broader counter-terrorism investigation into the attack, which has now resulted in at least eight arrests. Among those previously arrested was a 30-year-old man, detained on 9 October 2025 on suspicion of failing to disclose information regarding terrorist activity, who police said remained under investigation. As part of the enquiry, police also previously carried out a warrant at an address on St James’ Road in Higher Broughton.
A close associate jailed for life
Separately, another man connected to attacker Jihad Al-Shamie, Mohammad Asim Bashir, 31, was sentenced in July to life imprisonment with a minimum term of 17 years, having been convicted of preparing terrorist acts.
Investigators established that Bashir and Al-Shamie had carried out hostile reconnaissance at the UK Defence Academy in Shrivenham on 14 August 2025. Police said CCTV footage showed the pair discussing criteria for potential targets before travelling to the site, with Bashir driving for most of the journey. Greater Manchester Police described Bashir as a close associate of Al-Shamie who also held extremist views.
Police admit to a ‘missed opportunity’
In a significant development that emerged after Bashir’s case concluded, Greater Manchester Police admitted that it had seized Al-Shamie’s mobile phones before the synagogue attack but had not examined the data stored on them. Chief Constable Sir Stephen Watson described this as a “missed opportunity,” acknowledging that the information held on the devices was significant in evidencing an extremist mindset.
Al-Shamie had been arrested twice before carrying out the attack: once in February 2025 on suspicion of breaching a non-molestation order, and again in September 2025 on suspicion of rape. Police confirmed he was on bail at the time of the synagogue attack.
Ongoing scrutiny
The Independent Office for Police Conduct and the coroner are examining aspects of the events surrounding the attack, including Greater Manchester Police’s previous contact with Al-Shamie. Police have said the wider investigation into the attack remains ongoing, despite the attacker having been killed by armed officers at the scene.
