Overview
- Counter Terrorism Policing North West charged 49-year-old Hekmat Omar Ali Hakim under Section 38b of the Terrorism Act 2000 on Thursday and remanded him to appear at Westminster Magistrates' Court.
- The authorised charge relates to the 2 October attack at Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation in which attacker Jihad Al-Shamie was shot dead by police and two worshippers, Melvin Cravitz and Adrian Daulby, were killed.
- Assistant Chief Constable Rob Potts said the charge follows months of meticulous investigative work supported by the Crown Prosecution Service and called it a significant development in the inquiry.
- Section 38b makes it an offence to withhold information about terrorist activity and can be used even if the defendant is not accused of carrying out the attack himself.
- Investigators say the probe remains active, victims' families have been updated and offered support, and the court process will determine whether further charges or lines of inquiry follow.