Brother of Manchester Arena bomber remanded in custody

The younger brother of Manchester Arena bomber Salman Abedi has been remanded in custody at a court bail hearing.

Hashem Abedi, 22, appeared at Oxford Crown Court via video-link from HMP Belmarsh, a category A prison in south-east London, on Monday.

Raised in Manchester, Abedi travelled to Libya before his older brother detonated his suicide vest as pop fans left an Ariana Grande concert on May 22 2017, killing 22 people and injuring 260.

Manchester Arena incident
Manchester Arena incident

Abedi faces 22 counts of murder, one for each of the attack’s victims, one count of attempted murder encompassing all the other victims, and one count of conspiring with his brother to cause explosions.

He is accused of making both successful and unsuccessful attempts to buy bomb-making chemicals.

It is also said Abedi assisted in buying a Nissan Micra to store device components, and that he made detonator tubes for use in the explosive.

He was arrested in Tripoli, but only extradited to the UK on Wednesday.

A seated Abedi, wearing a grey jumper and glasses, spoke only to confirm his name at the start of the 10-minute hearing in Oxford.

Judge Mr Justice Sweeney ordered him to be remanded in custody ahead of a preliminary court hearing to be held either at the Old Bailey in London or in Oxford on July 30.

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