A man investigated for suspected links to the Manchester synagogue attack was charged Thursday with four terrorism offenses not “directly” related to the atrocity, English prosecutors announced.
Mohammad Bashir, 31, arrested a week ago, will not face charges over the October 2 car ramming and knife assault, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said.
However, he will be prosecuted for having allegedly driven the perpetrator Jihad al-Shamie to a British “defense location” to conduct “hostile reconnaissance.”
He will also be prosecuted for having allegedly shared material online intending to encourage terrorism, the CPS added.
They said they had concluded there was “sufficient evidence” to charge Bashir with one offense of preparing terrorist acts and three counts of sharing terrorist publications with al-Shamie and others.
He is due in Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Friday for a first hearing.
Assistant Chief Constable Rob Potts said the charges were not “directly linked” to their ongoing investigation into the attack on the Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation synagogue.
Two men died in the attack by Syrian-born UK citizen Shamie, which came as worshippers gathered for Yom Kippur, the holiest day in the Jewish calendar.
He launched the assault by driving his car at security staff and the external gates of the synagogue.
Wearing a fake suicide belt, he then stabbed father-of-three Melvin Cravitz, 66, multiple times and tried to storm the site before police shot him dead.
Cravitz died from multiple knife wounds inflicted by Shamie, an inquest heard.
Adrian Daulby, 53, died from a single gunshot wound to the chest fired by a police officer responding to the situation.
Seven people have so far been arrested over the synagogue attack, Bashir included.
A 30-year-old man arrested on October 9 on suspicion of failing to disclose information under the Terrorism Act remains on bail, according to police.
The five others arrested have been released without charge.
