LONDON: The Manchester Arena attacker’s brother and the Parsons Green bomber have failed to cooperate with a court regarding an alleged attack on a prison guard.
Hashem Abedi, the 24-year-old brother of Manchester suicide bomber Salman Abedi, did not attend the court in London in person or via video. He is serving a life sentence. Abedi did not have legal representation. The court was told that he had “refused to attend.”
Ahmed Hassan, whose bomb plot failed to kill anyone after his device partially exploded at a West London underground station in 2017, appeared via video from a prison in the northeast of England. He is also serving a life sentence.
Hassan, 21, who also had no legal representation, refused to speak and appeared to be muttering under his breath at points during the hearing.
Judge Michael Evans QC checked there was an adequate connection between the London court and the prison. “It is quite clear that Mr. Hassan is refusing to engage,” he said.
The judge gave Hassan an opportunity to speak, and he replied: “I hate you very much, you evil man.”
Along with Muhammed Saeed, Abedi and Hassan are accused of attacking a prison officer at the high-security Belmarsh prison in London in May 2020. The trio have been charged with assault occasioning actual bodily harm.
Judge Evans said they would be summoned to court to enter pleas on July 12. A two-week trial has been scheduled for December.
