A suspected Hamas terrorist granted asylum in the UK has been found guilty of a violent knife attack on a bailiff outside his home in Birmingham. Mohammed Alfatih, also known as Mohammed Naim, was convicted of wounding after brandishing two large kitchen knives during the incident in Kings Heath.
Alfatih, 40, is reported to have acted as a bodyguard to the leader of Hamas before being granted asylum in Britain in 2015 and British citizenship in 2020. Jurors at Birmingham Crown Court, who deliberated for more than six hours over three days, were not told of his alleged links to Hamas during the trial.
Attack and Conviction
The court was shown film footage of Alfatih lashing out with a knife at the broken window of a bailiff's van on October 14 last year, leaving enforcement officer Kevin Bucknall with a deep cut to the back of his head. The victim, who required hospital treatment after blood poured down his neck and back, could not tell the court whether the wound was caused by a knife or broken glass.
Alfatih was cleared of wounding with intent but convicted of two counts of unlawful possession of a knife. He was also found guilty of causing criminal damage to the bailiff's van by smashing its driver's side window with a half-brick.
Background and Legal Proceedings
Alfatih, whose wife had racked up a debt of more than £2,250 linked to unpaid parking fines, could not be identified in media reports during his trial. Reporting restrictions preventing the father-of-four from being named ended on Friday after the verdict.
Prior to the trial, a judge extended reporting restrictions after media reports that a suspect named only as “Mr X” had secured asylum in the UK and was alleged to have been involved in planning for atrocities timed to coincide with the second anniversary of the October 7 attacks. The reports also claimed “Mr X” served in the personal security team of Ismail Haniyeh, then leader of Hamas in Gaza, and had pre-recorded a video in which he appeared masked and armed in front of a Hamas flag.
German prosecutors charged seven suspected Hamas members in September over an alleged plot to target Jews or Israelis in Germany or Austria around the second anniversary of the October 7 attack on Israel. They said “Mohammed A” played a prominent role in transporting and storing weapons but was being prosecuted separately after UK authorities arrested him in London, noting he has not yet been returned to Germany.
Defence and Evidence
Alfatih, an IT worker, pleaded not guilty on the grounds of self-defence using reasonable force. He told the court he chased the bailiff across the street to scare him away after his wife was asked to settle her debts, and that he had gone to his kitchen to arm himself with knives a day after learning that one of his brothers had been killed in Gaza.
A consultant forensic psychiatrist told the trial that Alfatih appeared to be “a pleasant person” who was calm and co-operative and, in his opinion, has post-traumatic stress disorder. During his evidence, Alfatih did not mention Hamas but told the court he had been tortured for 25 days while detained in Egypt in 2010.
In her closing speech, defence barrister Kate O’Raghallaigh said the shooting in which Alfatih was injured aged 16 had also killed one of his brothers. She described him as “a man who was then detained by the Egyptian regime” before being tortured and electrocuted, adding: “This is a man who has experienced violence and loss. Warzones have all sorts of casualties – you may find that Mr Alfatih is one of them.”
Alfatih told the jury: “I just want to be as honest as I can. The only thing I can imagine is that something more serious is coming. I don’t think I was even in my full mind. I didn’t intend anything other than him moving away. I wasn’t anything more than terrified.”
Mr Bucknall said he believed Alfatih paused after seeing blood, giving him the opportunity to drive away and seek help at a nearby GP surgery. The victim added: “I was basically trying to get him out of the van. I was trying to kick out. I could feel something warm running down the back of my head.”
Alfatih, who was accepted in court to be of previous good character, had been bailed by anti-terror officers ten days before the attack. He walked calmly back into his home and phoned police to claim that he had been assaulted.
