UK man jailed for military academy terror plot as police admit data failure
A British man has received a life sentence for plotting an attack on a UK military academy, a case that has exposed a critical police intelligence failure prior to a separate deadly synagogue stabbing.
Mohammad Bashir, 31, was sentenced at Manchester Crown Court to life in prison with a minimum term of 17 years for preparing an act of terrorism. He pleaded guilty to plotting an assault on the UK’s Defence Academy in Shrivenham, Oxfordshire, alongside Jihad Al-Shamie.
Al-Shamie later carried out a fatal stabbing at a synagogue on Yom Kippur last October. Prosecutors confirmed Bashir had no involvement in that assault, which was executed solely by Al-Shamie.
The pair believed the military site trained Israeli forces. Two months before the synagogue attack, Bashir drove Al-Shamie to scout the academy. They discussed how to enter the base and planned to use handheld weapons and a fake suicide vest to maximize casualties, anticipating they would be martyred.
The investigation has revealed a severe lapse in police intelligence handling. Greater Manchester Police discovered messages between the two men on a phone seized from Al-Shamie during earlier arrests in 2025. However, officers failed to review this data before the synagogue attack took place.
For European businesses and investors, institutional stability is a core requirement for market confidence. Severe failures in basic police intelligence protocols erode public trust in state security. When authorities cannot promptly process digital evidence from known suspects, the resulting domestic security vulnerabilities can disrupt civic life and force costly administrative overhauls, diverting public funds from economic priorities.
Stephen Watson, Chief Constable of Greater Manchester Police, acknowledged the failure. “It is clear that our not having reviewed the data available to us prior to the attack constitutes a missed opportunity,” he said. “I am disappointed at the prospect of adding to the distress of all of those affected by the terrible events last October. For this, I am deeply sorry.”
The Independent Office for Police Conduct will now investigate whether reviewing the missed messages could have prevented the deadly incident. Bashir left the UK two days after the synagogue assault and was arrested at Manchester Airport in November 2025 upon returning from a family wedding in Pakistan.
“Mohammad Bashir is a determined jihadist and dangerous individual who was planning an attack that could have caused devastation,” the Crown Prosecution Service said. Justice Bobbie Cheema-Grubb noted the planned academy assault was a viable threat designed to cause as much bloodshed as possible.
