A young woman who was in a controlling relationship with “weird” Manchester synagogue terrorist Jihad Al-Shamie has said he wanted to join ISIS and tried to “groom” her into extremist views. The Manchester Evening News (MEN) reports the woman claims she was just 18 when she met Al-Shamie, who was in his 30s, but lied about his age and said he was 24.
Speaking to the paper, she said she was ashamed to admit the pair would regularly meet up at a local Premier Inn hotel and Al-Shamie would push his “extreme views” on her, demanding she be “dedicated to the cause”. She told the MEN: “He used to say ‘I want you to be dedicated to the cause’, and he used to sit there and make me watch videos – like extreme videos – that I had no interest in. I am Muslim and of course I love to learn more – but this stuff was things that I have been raised to not agree with.”
The woman was no longer in a relationship with Al-Shamie, 35, when he launched an antisemitic terror attack against the Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation Synagogue in Crumpsall, Manchester, on Thursday that left two people dead. Al-Shamie, who was on bail for an alleged rape, was shot dead by police as he targeted the place of worship on Yom Kippur, the holiest day in the Jewish calendar.
In an interview with the MEN, the woman, who left the country after a four-month on-off relationship with Al-Shamie, said he had told her he was “not right in the head” and that he had done “demonic paintings and drawings” since he was a “little kid”.
The former partner said she recognised the black Kia Picanto he drove in the terror attack because he previously used the vehicle to “stalk” her, regularly pulling up outside her place of work, or turning up outside her home.
The woman said Al-Shamie hit her on multiple occasions and tried to impose “extreme” views upon her. Recalling one occasion, she said: “Neighbours had seen me running out of the house. They called me a taxi. There were loads of situations like that.”
The ex of Al-Shamie, who grew up in a Muslim family with a less conservative upbringing, said he would tell her she was “brought up the wrong way”.
She claims he would put pressure on her to wear traditional coverings and was desperate to marry her. “It was little things like what he expected of me,” she said.
“He wanted me to cover myself, full niqab, everything. He was proper pressuring me for marriage – and I didn’t want to marry him. This was after one month and he was like ‘come to my house’, and he was very forceful – extremely, really.”
The former partner said she and Al-Shamie met using the Muslim dating app, Muzmatch. During the course of their relationship, the woman said she found Al-Shamie still using the app.
She claimed he would message young girls on the site, using false names such as ‘Valentino’ and ‘Ahmed’, and would set up multiple accounts. “He kept getting banned because of his speech and what he was sending,” she said, “There were times when he would send me videos of him with other girls, and the girls were quite young.”
The woman told the MEN Al-Shamie was saying he had “rape fantasies”. “He used to say weird stuff,” she said. “It was just insane. I can’t believe I stayed as long as I did.”
Since Thursday’s attack, it has emerged that the 35-year-old was on bail following an arrest for raping another woman.
Counter-terror police have been granted warrants giving them extra time to question four people arrested on suspicion of preparing terrorist acts in connection with the synagogue attack, with another two also in custody.
Three men remain in hospital after Jihad Al-Shamie, 35, was shot dead by police as he targeted the place of worship on Yom Kippur, the holiest day in the Jewish calendar. Adrian Daulby, 53, is believed to have been shot dead by police while attempting to prevent Al-Shamie entering the synagogue during the attack.
He was killed with Melvin Cravitz, 66, from Crumpsall, a worshipper who helped prevent the attacker from entering the premises. The police operation is being led by Counter Terrorism Policing North West (CTPNW). They were granted the warrants on Saturday, meaning they can detain four of the suspects for a further five days.
The warrants are in relation to two men, aged 30 and 32, and a woman, 61, all arrested in Prestwich, and a 46-year-old woman arrested in Farnworth. Also under arrest are an 18-year-old woman and a 43-year-old man who were arrested in Farnworth and remain in custody for questioning.