Manchester Arena bomber’s brother ‘collected takeaway tins to make prototype bomb’

The brother of the Manchester Arena bomber collected tins and skewers from a takeaway restaurant – allegedly to make prototype parts for a bomb, a court has heard.

Hashem Abedi, 22, would take “any metal tins including pasta sauce tins, jalapeno tins and cooking oil tins”, the eatery’s owner said in a statement read to the Old Bailey.

A small scrap of metal was recovered after Hashem’s sibling Salman detonated a homemade bomb, killing 22 people and injuring many more, as they left an Ariana Grande concert in May 2017, the court heard.

Hashem denies 22 counts of murder, attempted murder and plotting with his brother to cause explosions.

His trial heard that Hashem worked for a takeaway as a delivery driver in 2016 and early 2017.

His boss, who cannot be identified, told the court: “Hashem asked me if he could take away the empty metal containers from the shop so he could sell them as scrap metal. I agreed to this as it meant I would have less rubbish at the shop.

“I believe he would (also) take empty containers from other businesses. I don’t think he asked them for permission to do this. I don’t know if he sold any of the tins.”

Other staff told him that Hashem’s front garden “looked like a pizza shop with sauce tins lying around”.

The owner said he “could not rely on (Hashem) to turn up for his shifts”, adding that he “was religious but in my opinion had the wrong idea of Islam”.

He continued: “He would smoke weed and did not appear honest. I heard him ask other members of staff if he could take cash orders. He would tell customers he had no change so he could keep it for himself.”

A friend and former colleague told the court that Hashem 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.

Making “very big spliffs” was Hashem’s “speciality”, the witness added.

Jurors heard Hashem also took other drugs, including tramadol, MDMA (ecstasy), and alcohol – to the disapproval of Salman, who he referred to as “Big Brother”.

Mr Kamlish went on to suggest that Hashem complained that his brother made him go to the mosque and “follow his religion”.

The witness told jurors: “He just wanted to chill, yeah.”

Mr Kamlish said Salman continued to be “on his back” and Hashem did not want to go home because he was “scared”.

The lawyer said: “Do you remember he hit him, smacked him?”

The witness replied: “Yeah, he said sometimes.”

The trial continues.

(c) Sky News 2020: Manchester Arena bomber’s brother ‘collected takeaway tins to make prototype bomb’