Manchester Arena bomb plotter Hashem Abedi refuses to appear in court over ‘hot oil’ attack on prison guards

The man who plotted with his brother to set off a bomb at the Manchester Arena has refused to appear in court over charges of attempted murder of prison guards.

Hashem Abedi, 28, was charged with three counts of attempted murder after four prison officers were injured in an ambush at his maximum security prison.

He also faces one count of assault occasioning actual bodily harm, and one count of unauthorised possession of a knife or offensive weapon, after the attack at HMP Frankland in Co Durham on April 12.

Abedi has refused to appear for his hearing at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Thursday morning.

Three prison officers were taken to hospital with serious injuries after Abedi threw hot oil and attacked them with improvised weapons.

Abedi was found guilty of 22 counts of murder, attempted murder and conspiracy to cause an explosion likely to endanger life following the Manchester Arena bombing on May 22, 2017.

The bombing itself was carried out by his brother Salman, who died in the blast.

During his trial at the Central Criminal Court (Old Bailey) in London, the jury heard compelling evidence of Hashem’s activities in the months leading up to the attack.

These included persuading close acquaintances to purchase chemicals on his behalf that could be used to manufacture explosives, sourcing metal drums that were used to build bomb prototypes, and buying a Nissan Micra that was used to store the bomb components back in Manchester whilst the brothers were in Libya.

Witnesses also gave evidence in court which suggested the brothers had developed an extremist mindset. One witness stated in court that, in his opinion, Hashem ‘believed in terrorism’.