Hashem Abedi, 22, was found guilty of murdering 22 people. Prosecutors said he was “just as guilty” as his brother. (Screen capture via ITV)
Hashem Abedi, the brother of the Ariana Grande Manchester Arena attacker Salman Abedi, has admitted to being involved in the bombing that killed 22 people.
In August this year, Hashem Abedi, 23, was sentenced to 24 life sentences with a minimum term of 55 years in prison for his involvement in the attack carried out by his brother, 22, who died in the suicide bombing at an Ariana Grande concert in May 2017.
During his trial, he pleaded not guilty to the murder of 22 people, as well as charges of attempted murder and plotting to cause an explosion likely to endanger life, and claimed to have been “shocked” by his brother’s actions.
But London’s Old Bailey heard that while he was not present at the time of the explosion, Hashem’s fingerprints and DNA were found in the residences in the northwest city where they both made the bomb. He escaped to Libya a month before the attack and had to be extradited.
Prosecutors said he was “just as guilty” as his brother, and that the Manchester-born siblings had stood “shoulder-to-shoulder” in the plot.
But now, according to The Guardian, Hashem has finally admitted his involvement in the attack which also wounded 264 concert-goers.
He made the admission in prison in October during an interview as part of an inquiry into the bombing, declaring that he played a “a full and knowing part” in the attack.
At the public inquiry, while questioning DCS Simon Barraclough who led the criminal investigation into the bombing, Paul Greaney QC said: “On the 22 October of this year in prison serving his sentence, Hashem Abedi was interviewed by members of the inquiry legal team.
“During that interview, Hashem Abedi admitted that he had played a full part and a knowing part in the preparation for the arena attack.”
Barraclough said there has been “no doubt” in his mind that Hashem’s conviction had been “entirely well found”.
Greaney asked: “So the point you are making is that it didn’t need him to tell you that you had got it right?”
Barraclough responded: “I think we had got there with the trial.”