Greater Manchester Police Chief Constable Sir Stephen Watson has issued a formal apology after admitting that mobile devices seized from Jihad Al-Shamie prior to his deadly October 2025 attack were never examined. Al-Shamie, a 35-year-old from Prestwich, killed two men, Melvin Cravitz and Adrian Daulby, during a car and knife assault at the Heaton Park Synagogue on Yom Kippur.
Authorities had confiscated Al-Shamie’s phones during arrests in February and September 2025 regarding separate criminal allegations, including an alleged rape. Sir Stephen acknowledged that the devices contained significant evidence of an extremist mindset and that analyzing them would have likely triggered further investigative action. He expressed deep regret for the additional distress this oversight caused the victims’ families.
The Independent Office for Police Conduct is now examining the contact history between local police and the attacker. This inquiry includes a specific investigation into an officer’s handling of sexual offense allegations against Al-Shamie to determine if systemic failures or misconduct allowed the attack to occur. The reveal followed the sentencing of Mohammad Bashir, a co-conspirator who had collaborated with Al-Shamie on a separate terror plot targeting a military academy.
