Arabic version: إدانة محمد الفاتح في هجوم بسكين في برمنغهام
According to BBC News, Mohammed Alfatih, a suspected Hamas member wanted by Germany over an alleged plot to murder Jewish people, has been found guilty of a knife attack on a bailiff outside his Birmingham home.
Alfatih, 40, who is also known as Mohammed Naim, was convicted by a majority verdict of unlawful wounding, possessing two knives and criminal damage. He was cleared of the more serious charge of wounding with intent. He had been under surveillance by a counter-terrorism unit when the incident happened last year.
During the two-week trial at Birmingham Crown Court, jurors were shown footage of Alfatih brandishing two large kitchen knives outside his home in Kings Heath. Video showed him lashing out with a knife at the broken window of a van on 14 October last year. Bailiff Kevin Bucknall suffered cuts to his head and needed hospital treatment.
Alfatih said he chased the bailiff across the street to scare him away after his wife was asked to settle her debts and her car was clamped. He pleaded not guilty on the grounds of self-defence, telling jurors he had not intended anything beyond making the officer move away. His defence said past traumatic experiences had heightened his perception of danger.
Jurors were not told about alleged links to Hamas contained in a German extradition request, including a report that Alfatih had worked as a bodyguard to former Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh. Alfatih, who was granted asylum in the UK in 2015 and citizenship in 2020, is expected to be extradited to Germany after serving his UK sentence.
