Childhood friend of Manchester Arena bomber released from prison after terrorism sentence

A convicted terrorist facilitator who was a childhood friend of Manchester Arena bomber Salman Abedi has been released from jail, according to reports today.

Abdalraouf Abdallah, from Moss Side, received an extended determinate sentence of nine years and six months in July 2016 after being convicted of engaging in conduct for the preparation of a terrorist act. The sentence was comprised of a five-year, six-month custodial element and four years' extended licence. Abdallah was 23 at the time.

The Parole Board said that in July, 2014, he took steps to assist four men in their travel to Syria to join the Islamic State group, including making attempts to liaise with a known source of firearms, acting as a facilitator, offering advice and guidance and transferring money.

READ MORE: LIVE Police surround terraced row of houses after woman found dead - latest updates

Now 31, he wasn't released at his parole eligibility date in January, 2019, but was freed in November, 2020. Abdallah's licence, however, was revoked and he was recalled to prison for breaching conditions of his release in 2021.

Abdallah was released from HMP Full Sutton in East Yorkshire on Tuesday when his sentence came to an end, reported the Press Association news agency. Two months ago the Parole Board had refused to free him early because he was still considered a “high risk of serious harm to the public” and given his “propensity to radicalise others”.

Despite losing his latest parole board two months ago, he is now eligible for automatic release from prison because his sentence – set in court by a judge – has expired. The Islamic extremist played an “important role” in Abedi’s radicalisation, according to a report from the inquiry into the attack.

Abedi visited him in prison and experts believe he groomed the bomber, however Abdallah has denied any involvement in the 2017 atrocity. He was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder after becoming paraplegic when injured in fighting in Libya in 2011 during the country’s uprising.

According to a report detailing the Parole Board’s decision in September, the panel accepted the inquiry’s finding that Abdallah “had played a significant role in radicalising the Manchester Arena bomber, although there was no evidence that he was involved in the attack itself or had any pre-knowledge of it”.

While in prison Abdallah took part in courses designed to tackle the motivations behind his offending “and the beliefs which enable it”, as well as taking part in rehabilitation to “manage the risk of individuals who have been involved in extremist or terrorism-related activity”. But his probation officer, prison officer and psychologist still did not support his release, with assessments determining he posed a “high risk of serious harm to the public”.

Psychologists concluded Abdallah continued to “show levels of engagement with extremism and intent to commit terrorist-related offending”, the papers said.

A plan for his release presented to the panel was also deemed “not robust enough” to manage him once he left prison as he “retained a propensity to radicalise others” – including “in any accommodation he is released to or any other person with whom he may come in contact” – and there was insufficient evidence to suggest there had been any change in his extremist mindset.