Manchester Arena bomb plotter Hashem Abedi refuses to appear in court to face attempted murder charges

A man who plotted the Manchester Arena bombing has refused to appear in court after he was charged with attempting to murder prison officers.

Hashem Abedi, 28, did not appear on a scheduled videolink today at Westminster Magistrates' Court.

He is accused of attempted murder after four prison officers were injured at the maximum-security HMP Frankland, County Durham, on 12 April.

He also faces one charge of assault occasioning actual bodily harm and one count of unauthorised possession of a knife or offensive weapon.

Three of the officers were taken to hospital with serious injuries after they were allegedly attacked with hot oil, and makeshift weapons, in an ambush.

The Prison Officers Association said, at the time, the staff had suffered life-threatening injuries including burns, scalds and stab wounds.

Abedi is next due to appear at the same court on 25 September.

Abedi was convicted of assisting with the Manchester terror plot, in which his brother, suicide bomber Salman Abedi, killed 22 people by detonating a homemade rucksack-bomb at the Ariana Grande concert in 2017.

He was jailed for life with a record-breaking 55-year minimum term in August 2020.

Chief Magistrate Paul Goldspring told the court he would ensure he attends the next hearing, adding: "I will order that he is physically produced, but if that is not possible, it will be a prison videolink."

(c) Sky News 2025: Manchester Arena bomb plotter Hashem Abedi refuses to appear in court to face attempted