Brother of arena bomber ‘clumsy and stupid like Goofy’, court told

THE BROTHER of the Manchester Arena suicide bomber has been likened in court to the cartoon character Goofy, who was scared of his sibling and “just wanted to chill”.

Hashem Abedi, 22, is accused of plotting with Salman Abedi, who blew himself up with homemade explosives, killing 22 people including many from Yorkshire and injuring many more after an Ariana Grande concert on May 22, 2017.

It is alleged the brothers had become radicalised and worked together to source materials to build the deadly device. The Old Bailey heard how Hashem Abedi hoarded old cooking oil cans and skewers from the takeaway where he worked which he allegedly used to make prototype bomb parts.

Yesterday, a friend and former colleague also described how he asked him to buy a large amount of sulphuric acid, a key component in

TATP explosives, claiming it was for a generator in Libya. The witness, who cannot be identified, said he found out it could only be purchased in small quantities and they never spoke of it again.

Cross-examining, Stephen Kamlish QC said: “The type of character Hashem was, you described him as clumsy, a little stupid and like Goofy, the cartoon character, the cartoon dog who gets things wrong.” The witness agreed that Hashem was “just like a normal dozy youngster”. He said they used to smoke weed together in a park and his “hot box” car. Jurors heard Hashem also took other drugs to the disapproval of Salman Abedi, who he referred to as “Big Brother”. Hashem Abedi, inset, has denied 22 counts of murder, attempted murder and plotting with his brother to cause explosions.