On 22 May 2017 suicide bomber Salman Abedi detonated a device in the foyer of Manchester Arena moments after an Arianna Grand concert, killing 22 people. His brother Hashem was extradited from Libya to face trial at the Old Bailey in London.
Hashem Abedi has been convicted of the murder of 22 people who were blown up by his suicide bomber brother, Salman, at the Manchester Arena in May 2017.
Abedi, 22, who was extradited from Libya last year, had denied 22 counts of murder, attempted murder and conspiring to cause explosions.
Thousands of fans of the US pop star Arianna Grande attended the concert in Manchester in May 2017 when Salman Abedi set off the bomb in his backpack in the foyer of the arena moments after it finished.
The blast killed 17 women and girls and five men, wounded 264 and left at least 670 other people with devastating psychological scars.
Ariana Grande performs during the One Love Manchester benefit concert for the victims of the Manchester Arena terror attack at Emirates Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, Britain on June 4, 2017
Abedi, who is believed to be a supporter of Daesh*, sacked his defence barrister, Stephen Kamlish QC, last week after deciding not to give evidence.
The trial heard Abedi had helped his brother source materials for a prototype bomb and buy a car in which the materials for the arena device were stored in the weeks up to the attack. Both brothers then flew to Libya, with only Salman returning to carry out the explosion.
Prosecutor Duncan Penny QC said the brothers had engaged in “months of planning” which involved assembling metal containers, nails and screws to be used as shrapnel and chemicals to make explosives.
He told the jury: “The prosecution’s case is that this defendant is just as guilty of the murder of the 22 people killed as was his brother.”
Abedi is due to be sentenced later in the week but faces a mandatory life sentence and will almost certainly be given a whole life tariff, meaning he will never be released.
Mr Penny said: “The bomb which was detonated was self-evidently designed to kill and maim as many people as possible,” he added. “It was packed with lethal shrapnel and it was detonated in the middle of a crowd in a very public area – the intention being to kill and to inflict maximum damage.”
A portrait of Eilidh MacLeod, 14, who has been named as one of those who died in Monday’s Manchester bombing, is seen at St Ann’s Square in central Manchester, England, Friday, May 26 2017.
The trial was broadcast live from the Old Bailey to three locations in England and one in Scotland, so that relatives of the victims could witness justice being done.
Sourse: sputniknews.com
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