Hashem Abedi jailed for at least 55 years

Hashem Abedi, the brother of suicide bomber Salman Abedi, has been jailed for life over the murder of 22 people at Manchester Arena’s Ariana Grande concert in 2017.

The 23-year-old who helped to plan one of the deadliest terrorist attacks ever to take place on UK soil, was not present in the courtroom after refusing to leave his cell.

Passing sentence, Mr Justice Jeremy Barker said that if the defendant had been 21 or older at the time of the offence, the appropriate starting point for sentencing would have been a whole-life order.

Barker said: “Although Salman Abedi was directly responsible, it was clear the defendant took an integral part in the planning. The motivation for them was to advance the ideology of Islamism, a matter distinct to and abhorrent to the vast majority for those who follow the Islamic faith.

“The defendant and his brother were equally culpable for the deaths and injuries caused. The stark reality is that these were atrocious crimes, large in their scale, deadly in their intent, and appalling in their consequences.”