A man accused of aiding the Manchester synagogue attacker by driving him to spy on a defence site was before a London court on Friday, with his lawyer saying he will plead not guilty.
Mohammad Bashir, 31, was last week charged with four terrorism offences, including allegedly driving the October 2 synagogue attacker, Jihad al-Shamie, to a British “defence location” for reconnaissance.
He was also accused of sharing the contents of a radical publication with a WhatsApp group.
Bashir, who identifies as British Pakistani, was arrested at Manchester Airport on November 27th. During the hearing, prosecutors described him as one of Shamie’s “associates.”
They claim that on August 14th, Bashir “travelled to the UK defence academy to undertake hostile reconnaissance as a potential terrorist act.” The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) alleges this was done “with the intention of assisting Jihad al-Shamie to commit acts of terrorism.”
In addition to the reconnaissance allegation, Bashir faces three further counts related to sharing terrorist material online.
At Friday’s preliminary hearing, Bashir confirmed his name and date of birth. His defence counsel told the court that he intends to plead not guilty. The presiding judge scheduled a provisional trial date for July 6th, 2026, to be held at Manchester Crown Court. According to the prosecution, the trial is expected to last between three and four weeks.
