Government blames Tories for giving British citizenship to ‘Hamas bodyguard’

The case of a suspected terrorist reported to have acted as a bodyguard to the leader of Hamas before being granted asylum and British citizenship is a “staggering example of the loss of border control” under the Conservatives, the Government has said. Germany-born Mohammed Alfatih, also known as Mohammed Naim, has been found guilty of a violent knife attack on a bailiff outside his UK home. He is also wanted in Germany over an alleged plot to murder members of the Jewish community there.

Mohammed Alfatih attacked Kevin Bucknall in Fairfield Road, Kings Heath, Birmingham Credit: West Midlands Police/PA Alfatih was granted asylum in Britain in 2015 and British citizenship in 2020. A Government source said: “This is a staggering example of the loss of border control under the last Conservative government who granted his asylum claim and gave him citizenship. “This Labour Government has just introduced reforms that ensure those who gain citizenship must first show they are a good citizen and have contributed to this country.”

Jurors who convicted Alfatih after being shown film footage of the 40-year-old brandishing two large kitchen knives outside his home in Kings Heath, Birmingham, were not told of his alleged links to Hamas. They were also not told Alfatih, reported to be the son of a senior Hamas official, was under surveillance by a counter-terrorism unit after being released on bail on suspicion of a terror offence days before the bailiff was attacked.

A Home Office spokesperson said: “There can be no place in our society for those who engage in violence or seek to facilitate terrorist attacks against innocent people. “Hamas is a proscribed terrorist organisation, and we condemn those who choose to support its activities and further its aims.” Jurors at Birmingham Crown Court deliberated for more than six hours over three days before convicting Alfatih of wounding. He was cleared of wounding with intent, but also convicted of two counts of unlawful possession of a knife.

Alfatih, who mumbled to himself as the verdicts were returned, has been in custody since the knife attack. He is also facing extradition proceedings at Westminster Magistrates’ Court and was told he will be sentenced for wounding in Birmingham on January 11. Alfatih, whose wife had racked up a debt of more than £2,250 linked to unpaid parking fines, could not be identified in media reports during his trial for attacking the enforcement officer.

Prior to the trial, a judge extended reporting restrictions after media reports that a suspect named only as “Mr X” had secured asylum in the UK and was then alleged to have been involved in planning for atrocities timed to coincide with the second anniversary of the October 7 attacks. The reports also claimed “Mr X” served in the personal security team of Ismail Haniyeh, who was then the leader of Hamas in Gaza, and had pre-recorded a video in which he appeared masked and armed in front of a Hamas flag.

Before his trial, IT worker Alfatih failed in a legal application to try to get the wounding charges thrown out on the grounds of prejudicial media coverage. The coverage included details of allegations related to seven arrests made by German authorities, but Judge George Lubega ruled the reports did not pose a high risk of prejudice to Alfatih’s trial. German prosecutors charged seven suspected Hamas members in September over an alleged plot to target Jews or Israelis in Germany or Austria around the second anniversary of the October 7 attack on Israel.

They said “Mohammed A” played a prominent role in transporting and storing weapons but was being prosecuted separately after UK authorities arrested him in London and noted he has not yet been returned to Germany. German authorities also said he is connected to Hamas’s leadership and is said to have produced a video ahead of time, taking responsibility for the attack on the group’s behalf. Reporting restrictions preventing the father-of-four from being named ended on Friday after he was also found guilty of causing criminal damage to the bailiff’s van by smashing its driver’s side window with a half-brick.

A two-week trial was shown video footage of Alfatih lashing out with a knife at the broken window of the van on October 14 last year, leaving bailiff Kevin Bucknall with a deep cut to the back of his head. The victim, who was left with blood pouring down his neck and back, could not tell the court whether the wound was caused by a knife or broken glass, and Alfatih pleaded not guilty on the grounds of self-defence using reasonable force.

The incident left the bailiff, who was forced to reverse out a one-way street, requiring hospital treatment. Following the attack shortly before 11am, Alfatih – who had been bailed by anti-terror officers ten days earlier – walked calmly back into his home and phoned police to claim that he had been assaulted. Alfatih – who was accepted in court to be of previous good character – told the court he chased the bailiff across the street to scare him away, after his wife was asked to settle her debts.

Her car had been clamped by the enforcement officer, who was involved in a struggle inside Alfatih’s terraced home. Alfatih told jurors he had gone to his kitchen to arm himself with knives – a day after learning that one of his brothers had been killed in Gaza – because of traumatic experiences in his past, including being shot and injured aged 16 and again in his early 20s. Alfatih came to the UK in 2014 and became a citizen in 2020, defence barrister Kate O’Raghallaigh said, while members of his family – “the ones who are still alive” – were still in Gaza.