Exclusive:
Exclusive photos from The Mirror show Abdalraouf Abdallah relaxing with a cup of tea just three miles from the Manchester Arena, where 22 people died in a terrorist attack in 2017
A convicted terrorist blamed for radicalising Manchester Arena bomber Salman Abedi is now back on the streets of the city.
The Mirror’s exclusive photos show Abdalraouf Abdallah, 32, relaxing with a cup of tea just three miles from the arena where 22 people died in the horrific attack at the Ariana Grande concert in 2017. He was freed despite warnings last year from parole board chiefs that he posed a “high risk of serious harm to the public”.
But they were powerless to block his release two months later in November when his sentence expired. Prison officers and parole board chiefs flagged grave concerns that Abdalraouf Abdallah would carry on radicalising others, documents uncovered by the Mirror reveal today.
And a security expert has now warned that the intelligence services are so “overwhelmed” they will be unable to effectively monitor the recruiter, said to have groomed Manchester Arena bomber Salman Abedi. Chris Phillips, the former Head of the National Counter Terrorism Security Office, said: “It’s pretty much impossible. He will have complete freedom to do as he wishes. And the problem is we don’t know what damage will be caused in the future.”
Prison intelligence records state that Abdallah retained an “Islamist mindset” and tried to “impose his ideology” on inmates and others. There were also concerns about his links to organised crime and “history of making threats of violence”.
A Parole Board ruling said: “There was a significant continuing risk of [Abdallah] seeking to radicalise other individuals inside and then outside the confines of a prison, with the potential result that members of the public might suffer serious harm.” And now, horrifyingly near to the arena where his childhood friend, suicide bomber Salman Abedi, 22, detonated an explosive that killed 22 and maimed dozens more at an Ariana Grande concert in May, 2017, Abdallah has been pictured enjoying a cuppa outside a property.
He was wearing grey joggers and a £300 North Face puffer jacket while speaking to a pal and using his mobile. When approached by the Mirror, he said: “I have been instructed not to say anything. I have a new life.” The terrorist, who uses a wheelchair after being shot and paralysed in 2010 while fighting Colonel Gaddafi’s regime in Libya, played an “important” role in grooming Abedi. The Manchester Arena Inquiry heard how more than 1,000 text messages were exchanged between them in 2014.
Families of victims of the bombing last night revealed they had been informed about Abdallah’s “imminent release”, but did not know that he had actually been freed until contacted by the Mirror. Many are still locked in a legal battle for compensation and declined to comment. But one relative said: “We were aware of his case. We did know that he had been freed, we were told that he was going to be.
“I am concerned about his release, that is as far as we can go at the moment. I am trying to protect my family, and the other families.” Abdallah was jailed in 2016 for nine and a half years for helping extremists, including his brother, travel to Syria to join the Islamic State.
He was released on licence in November 2020 but recalled to jail for breaching his conditions on January 18, 2021. He had threatened another resident in his probation hostel, saying “his boys” would come with a car “strapped full of guns”.
At the Manchester Arena Inquiry, Chairman Sir John Saunders revealed that Abedi visited Abdallah in prison, including on the day in January 2017 when he began amassing chemicals for his bomb. Six days later, Abdallah spoke to Abedi using a contraband mobile phone acquired at HMP Altcourse in Liverpool. On that day, Abedi had bomb chemicals delivered.
Sir John said Abdallah provided the “ideological motivation” for Abedi to carry out the attack, even if he was not operationally involved. He said: “It is likely their continued relationship made a significant contribution to consolidating Salman Abedi’s ideology as he was contemplating the attack, and stiffened his resolve to carry out the atrocity.”
Abdallah gave evidence to the inquiry in November 2021, denying he had groomed Abedi, who he had grown up with in the same part of Manchester. He said he was “crying, confused and shocked” when he heard of the suicide bombing. Asked about reports Abedi wanted revenge over the UK’s role in Syria and Iraq, he said: “If I had seen the slightest of that thing myself… me and my boys will slap the hell out of him. We would have told his mum straight away.”
Abedi’s brother Hashem was jailed in 2020 for 55 years for 22 counts of murder for his role in the Manchester Arena bombing. The inquiry found that data seized from Abdallah’s prison phone three months before the attack was not analysed until after the atrocity.
It prompted an apology from MI5 chief Ken McCallum. In a televised statement, he said: “MI5 exists to stop atrocities. To all those whose lives were forever changed on that awful night: I am so sorry.” Chris Phillips said Abdallah should not have been freed. He said: “What do you do with people that are so dangerous? They shouldn’t be released. There’s a real risk to society that someone else will die as a result.”
A government spokesperson said: “The Manchester Arena bombing was one of the most tragic and cowardly attacks this country has ever seen, and our thoughts remain with the victims and their families. The UK has robust measures in place to manage the risk posed by terrorist offenders released from prison and those involved in terrorism related activity in the community.”
