Man Who Helped Bomb Ariana Grande Concert Charged with Three Counts of Attempted Murder Behind Bars: Reports By Christina Coulter

Hashem Abedi — jailed for helping carry out the 2017 Manchester Arena bombing at an Ariana Grande concert — has been charged with three counts of attempted murder after he allegedly attacked prison officers.

The 28-year-old, who in 2020 was sentenced to a minimum of 55 years for helping his brother plan the suicide attack, is now accused of assaulting four guards at high-security HMP Frankland on April 11, per The Guardian. 

Three of the officers were hospitalized with serious injuries, and Abedi also faces a charge of unauthorized possession of a knife after the incident, which allegedly involved makeshift blades and hot cooking oil, the outlet reported.

Abedi has since been moved to another facility and will be prosecuted under the U.K.’s counterterrorism protocol, which allows prosecutors to argue the attack was terror-motivated.

Counter Terrorism Policing North East, Durham Constabulary and prison authorities conducted a “thorough investigation” into the incident, while the Ministry of Justice previously announced an independent review — a move criticized by survivors and victims’ families, per BBC reporting.

Abedi will appear at Westminster magistrates court on September 18, The Guardian reported.

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Abedi’s older brother, Salman Abedi, killed 22 people and injured more than 1,000 others when he detonated an improvised explosive device near the ticket office outside the May 22, 2017 concert as it was ending.

The brothers spent the months before the bombing ordering, stockpiling and transporting explosives, per BBC reporting at the time. Mr. Justice Jeremy Baker told a court that Hashem was “just as guilty” as his brother, who died in the attack. 

In March 2020, Abedi was charged with 22 counts of murder, attempted murder and conspiring to cause explosions.