Former Hamas Bodyguard Guilty of UK Knife Attack

Mohammed Alfatih, a former bodyguard for a Hamas leader, has been found guilty of unlawfully wounding a bailiff in Birmingham. The 40-year-old was also convicted of possession of two knives and criminal damage, but cleared of wounding with intent. Alfatih was under surveillance by a counter-terror unit at the time of the attack.

Alfatih was granted asylum in the UK in 2015 and British citizenship in 2021. He had previously been known as Mohammed Naim and acted as a bodyguard for the now-deceased former leader of Hamas, Ismail Haniyeh, in 2006. The son of a senior Hamas official, he could not be named during his trial due to reporting restrictions.

Jurors were not informed of Alfatih's links to Hamas or his work as a bodyguard. However, it has been revealed that while detained for the attack in Birmingham, he was re-arrested when authorities in Germany said he had been part of an alleged gun plot to attack Jewish targets there. German authorities allege he was an organiser and involved in the movement of weapons. Alfatih is expected to be extradited to Germany after serving his sentence in the UK.

Alfatih faces sentencing in Birmingham on 11 January. During the trial, footage was shown of him brandishing two large kitchen knives outside his home and trying to stab the bailiff. He told the court he chased the victim to scare him away after his wife's car was clamped due to unpaid parking fines. The bailiff, Kevin Bucknall, was left with cuts to his head and required hospital treatment.