Men ‘plotted to do untold harm to Jewish people in Manchester’

Two men accused of plotting to kill Jewish people in Manchester planned to cause “untold harm” after buying assault rifles capable of killing hundreds of people, a court has heard.

Walid Saadaoui, 38, and Amar Hussein, 52, are alleged to have prepared acts of terrorism between 13 December 2023 and 9 May 2024.

The charge against them which they deny alleges they “arranged for the purchase and delivery of firearms, conducted reconnaissance and made plans of attack”.

Opening the prosecution at Preston Crown Court, Harpreet Sandhu KC said the men were Islamic extremists whose plan was “to get the weapons and ammunition and identify a mass-gathering of Jewish people whom they could attack”.

Trial judge Mr Justice Wall said the background of the case was “coincidental” to last week’s attack at the Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation Synagogue in Crumpsall, Manchester.

He said: “It is no part of the prosecution’s case that any of these defendants had anything to do with what happened in the synagogue in Manchester last week.

“You must try them fairly without reference or thought to what happened there. For the purposes of this trial, it is irrelevant.

“You are here to try the defendants fairly on the evidence.”

Mr Sandhu showed footage of Mr Saadaoui standing by the open boot of a car in a hotel car park in Bolton before he ran away from approaching counter-terrorism police officers.

The prosecutor said two assault rifles, a semi-automatic pistol and almost 200 rounds of ammunition were found in the vehicle.

Mr Sandhu said the defendant was also awaiting delivery of a further two assault rifles, another pistol and at least 700 more rounds of ammunition.

He told the jury: “Those firearms are fierce weapons. The assault rifles are capable of firing several hundred rounds of ammunition per minute.

“They are the type of firearms used in many terrorist attacks, including attacks in Paris in 2015 when approximately 130 people were killed and hundreds of people were injured.

“The firearms and ammunition Walid Saadaoui was about to receive were capable of causing untold harm.

“Untold harm was precisely what Walid Saadaoui had planned to cause together with Amar Hussein.”

Mr Sandhu’s address to the jury was then interrupted by an outburst from Mr Hussein who repeatedly shouted an obscenity denying it.

From the dock, Mr Hussein added: “How many children? How many babies?”

Justice Wall asked the jury to leave the courtroom when the proceedings were interrupted.

He later apologised to jurors for the “disturbance” as the case resumed and said Mr Hussein did not wish to return in court for the rest of the prosecution opening.

A third defendant, Walid’s brother Bilel Saadaoui, 36, is also on trial over an allegation he failed to disclose information about acts of terrorism on the same dates.

Mr Sandhu said: “Walid Saadaoui was about to receive those firearms and that ammunition because he and Amar Hussein were planning terrorist attacks.

“They planned to kill. They planned to cause mass fatalities. In particular, they planned to kill as many members of the Jewish community as they could, especially those in the north west of England.

“Their plan was to get the weapons and ammunition and identify a mass-gathering of Jewish people whom they could attack. They had also identified areas in Greater Manchester with a large Jewish population to attack.

“In addition, they intended to kill any law enforcement or police officers who got in their way.”

Both men were Islamic extremists, he said, and were prepared to risk their own lives.

Mr Sandhu said they believed they were planning their attacks with a third man called Farouk who they thought shared their extremist views.

However, Farouk was an undercover operative, the court heard.

The prosecutor continued: “Their plans were laid bare through their communication with Farouk and, as a result, the police were able to stop those plans from becoming a tragic reality.”

Bilal Saadaoui was not planning to take part in the terrorist attacks but knew what his brother was up to and sympathised with the views of the Islamic State, said the prosecutor.

Mr Sandhu said that Mr Saadoui, in preparing to “martyr himself”, had prepared a will and left a copy with his brother, along with access to his belongings and tens of thousands of pounds in cash to help provide for his family.

During the time of the allegations Mr Hussein worked at Salim Appliances in Grecian Crescent, Bolton, and also effectively lived there, the court also heard.

The prosecutor flagged up WhatsApp messages between Bilel Saadoui and Mr Hussein which “provided a flavour of the views they held about Jewish people”.

In one message Bilel Saadaoui had sent Mr Hussein a link to a news report that a number of Jewish people had been killed in a bridge collapse, and he added the hashtag “Beloved Palestine”.

Mr Hussein replied: “Allah is truly vigilant over them.”

Mr Sandhu told jurors: “That, ladies and gentlemen, was not a response in sympathy but rather a message that gloried in the death of Jewish people.

“Amar Hussein and Walid Saadaoui planned to kill Jewish people because they had a visceral dislike for them.

“The response from Amar Hussein was sent in 2021 and it shows how deep-rooted and long-standing that dislike for the Jewish people was.”

The court also heard images of the Manchester Jewish Museum in Cheetham Hill were found on Mr Hussein’s phone – one of the outside of the building and one inside.

Mr Saadaoui, of Abram, Wigan; Bilel Saadaoui, of Hindley, Wigan; and Mr Hussein, of no fixed abode, deny the allegations.

The trial is expected to last 12 weeks.