Terror timeline: How two brothers spent four months planning the arena bombing
Hashem Abedi – brother of bomber Salman Abedi – was found guilty of 22 counts of murder at the Old Bailey following his trial, which he shunned.
Here are the key dates in the Manchester Arena bombing case:
2017
January 18: With his parents returning to Libya, Hashem Abedi begins ordering components for his terror plot, including a litre of sulphuric acid via Amazon using the details of a relative. He also hoards empty tins at his home in Elsmore Road, Fallowfield, south Manchester, to fashion into prototype components.
February 19: Hashem and Salman Abedi rent a flat in Somerton Court, Blackley, north Manchester, to stockpile the ingredients of the bomb.
March 17: The Abedi brothers get the keys to a terrace house at 44 Lindum Street, Rusholme, to use as a delivery address for chemicals.
March 23: The Abedis, neither of whom has a driving licence, crash a Toyota Aygo car they bought two months earlier to help move their bomb components around various safe houses in Manchester.
April 6: The brothers’ parents are due in the UK for a visit, so they must “act quickly”.
April 13: Hashem and Salman buy a white Nissan Micra for £230 via Gumtree. It is used to store bomb-making items as the flat in Blackley and house in Lindum Street are vacated.
April 20: A £2,000 Student Loan Company grant is advanced to Salman in his Halifax account.
May 14: From Libya, Salman contacts the owner of apartment 39 at 61 Granby Row in Manchester city centre, to rent it out on a short-term let. It is where he will assemble his bomb.
May 18: Salman arrives at Manchester Airport. He goes straight to south Manchester to check on the Micra. He later visits Manchester Arena for the first time and buys batteries, bulbs, tape, cable and a suitcase.
May 19: Salman takes a taxi to the Micra and loads the items he needs into his suitcase before returning to the flat. Later he buys a large money tin, with a removable lid, used to house the bomb. He also buys a large Karrimor rucksack from Sports Direct and orders 5,000 metal nuts from Screwfix.
May 20: Salman visits B&Q and Screwfix to buy more than 4,000 screws and nuts and a five-litre paint tin, also used in the explosive device.
May 23: Hashem is detained by militia in Libya and allegedly subjected to torture.
June 1: The Nissan Micra is found in south Manchester. It contains acid, bags and boxes of nails, traces of explosives, and Hashem’s fingerprints.
Date unknown: UK Government representatives and two MI5 and MI6 agents visit Hashem in custody. He said they gave him some Heroes chocolates and that there were four “militia men” in the room when they asked if he was OK.
August 23: Then-foreign secretary Boris Johnson visits Libyan Prime Minister Fayyez Al-Serraj in Tripoli and announces a £9.2 million aid package for the country.
November 1: A formal extradition request is submitted by UK authorities, despite Tripoli previously refusing to hand over Libyan nationals to foreign jurisdictions.
2019
July 17: Hashem is extradited back to the UK.
July 30: Hashem is interviewed by police and provides a prepared statement denying involvement in the bombing and radicalisation, saying there is an innocent explanation.
2020
February 4: The Old Bailey trial is opened by prosecutor Duncan Penny QC. He tells the jury: “The prosecution’s case is that this defendant is just as guilty of the murder of the 22 people killed as was his brother.”
March 17: The jury unanimously convicts Hashem of all 22 counts of murder, one count of attempted murder encompassing the remaining injured, and one count of conspiring with the suicide bomber, his older brother Salman, to cause explosions. Hashem declines to appear in court as verdicts are returned.
August 19: Hashem’s two-day sentencing hearing begins at the Old Bailey.
