‘He may never be released’ – Manchester Arena bomber’s brother jailed for 55 years
Home-grown jihadi Hashem Abedi is expected to die in jail after being handed a recordlength sentence for the Manchester Arena bomb plot that killed 22 people and injured hundreds of others.
Judge Mr Justice Jeremy Baker ordered that Abedi serve 24 life sentences and said he would spend at least 55 years in prison before he could even be considered for parole.
Family members gasped as the sentence – a record for a determinate prison term – was handed down for Abedi’s role in the largest murder case in English legal history.
Abedi, born and raised in Manchester, was accused of showing “contempt” to the families of those he and his suicide bomber brother Salman Abedi killed more than three years earlier by not coming into the dock.
He was again absent as the sentence was handed down. The judge ordered a copy of his remarks to be sent to the cells.
Sentencing him yesterday afternoon, the judge said: “The defendant and his brother were equally culpable for the deaths and injuries caused.
“The stark reality is that these were atrocious crimes, large in their scale, deadly in their intent, and appalling in their consequences.
“The despair and desolation of the bereaved families has been palpable.”
The judge, who put on record his tribute to “the tremendous dignity and courage” of the families who attended court, said the 1,024 days Abedi spent remanded in custody will count towards the overall sentence, adding he was unable to hand him a whole-life term due to his age. He said: “He may never be released.”
Families of the victims responded by saying justice had prevailed, as dozens either sat in Court Two of the Old Bailey or watched over live-link from Glasgow, Manchester, Leeds and Newcastle.
Reacting to the sentence, Paul Hett, father of victim Martyn Hett, said: “He’s now going to spend the rest of his life in jail, I’m sure because after the 55 years he was given, I’m sure the Parole Board which then has to make a decision, will ensure this coward never sees the light of day again.”
The parents of Scottish schoolgirl Eilidh Macleod, 14, from the isle of Barra, who was among the 22 killed in the bombing, have told the court how every day “has been a struggle” since their daughter’s death. Prime Minister Boris Johnson called the bombing “a horrifying and cowardly act of violence which targeted children and families”, and praised the “courage and dignity” of those affected.
Abedi, of Fallowfield in south Manchester, was found guilty by a jury in March of 22 counts of murder, attempted murder and plotting to cause an explosion likely to endanger life.
The trial heard it was Abedi’s older brother, 22-year-old Salman, who detonated the suicide bomb in the foyer of Manchester Arena at 10:31pm on 22 May 2017, as thousands of men, women and children left a concert by pop star Ariana Grande.
Together, the Abedis spent months ordering, stockpiling and transporting the deadly materials required for their murderous act, using multiple mobile phones, addresses and runaround vehicles to craft their bomb. The brothers joined their parents in Libya the month before the blast amid concerns the siblings were becoming radicalised.
However, Salman returned to the UK on 18 May. He bought the final components needed for the bomb, rented a flat in the city centre in which to build it, and carried out reconnaissance on the arena before finally executing the plot – the chilling final moments of which were caught on CCTV.
Ian Hopkins, Chief Constable of Greater Manchester Police, described the brothers as “cowardly” and “calculating murderers” who tried to divide society.
He said: “He [Hashem Abedi] showed that in his contempt for the court proceedings and by the end just not turning up.
“But they failed to do that because actually what that atrocity did do, as painful as it was for those that lost their loved ones and those injured, it brought everybody together.
“And it showed, it showed the world that we stood together here in Manchester in our darkest hour.”
The mothers of teenage sweethearts Chloe Rutherford, 17, and Liam Curry, 19, had been among those to explain devastation to the hushed courtroom, with Lisa Rutherford saying: “As a family we need answers, we are destroyed.”
Samantha Leczkowski, mother of Sorrell Leczkowski, 14, from Leeds, said her daughter’s bedroom had been kept “untouched” since she died.
“Losing one of my children has killed me,” she said. “I may as well be dead.”