Manchester bomber's brother Hashem Abedi and two terrorists guilty of attacking prison officer

CCTV footage played in court shows Hashem Abedi smiling moments before attacking a police officer alongside two other terrorists.

The brother of the Manchester Arena bomber has been sentenced to another three years and 10 months of jail time after attacking two prison officers.

Hashem Abedi - who plotted the attack in May 2017 that killed 22 people alongside his brother, suicide bomber Salman Abedi - has been convicted alongside two other terrorists

Paul Edwards, 57, said he thought he would be killed when he was set upon by Abedi, Parsons Green Tube bomber Ahmed Hassan and third convicted terrorist Muhammed Saeed.

Political correspondent Lise McNally says the attack against Mr Edwards was described in court as "animalistic".

Abedi was suspected of being the ringleader of a group of Islamist terrorist inmates inside Belmarsh, Woolwich Crown Court heard.

CCTV footage shows Abedi smiling before he, Hassan and Saeed stormed Mr Edwards' office, where he operated an "open door policy", attacking him with a chair on 11 May 2020.

"I feared for my life, and I genuinely thought if I hadn't fought back I would've ended up with at least extreme injuries or dead," Mr Edwards said.

Hashem Abedi, the brother of the Manchester arena bomber, has been sentenced to another three years and 10 months of jail time. Credit: PA images

He said "it felt like a lifetime" before colleagues, including Nick Barnett, who has been a prison officer for 21 years, came to his aid seconds later.

"It was just like a pack of animals on Mr Edwards," said Mr Barnett, who was kicked in the leg by Abedi during the melee.

Mr Edwards suffered a laceration to his head, bruising to his back, rib cage and face, and has lasting damage to his hearing.

All three prisoners denied assault causing actual bodily harm to Mr Edwards, but were found guilty at Woolwich Crown Court on Tuesday by a jury after around three and a half hours of deliberations.

Hashem Abedi, Ahmed Hassan and Muhammed Saeed found guilty of an attack on a prison officer. Credit: PA images

Abedi, who is serving a life sentence with a minimum term of 55 years, was also found guilty of assault by beating of an emergency worker after kicking prison officer Nick Barnett as he came to his colleague's aid.

Mrs Justice Cheema-Grubb sentenced him to another three years and 10 months, of which he will serve half.

Hassan, who is serving a life sentence with a minimum of 34 years, and Saeed, who is serving a five-year sentence, were both handed three-year jail terms.

Before he was sentenced, Hashem Abedi told the judge: "I don't think the sentence is going to make any difference. Inshallah, myself and all my brothers will be leaving the prison very soon.

"The promises of Allah and the Prophet are more truthful than your sentence and your judgment."