Terrorist who killed 22 people received legal aid for ‘religious discrimination’ claim before attacking prison officers
Manchester Arena terrorist Hashem Abedi received £1,200 of taxpayers’ money to pursue a religious discrimination claim while serving life for helping murder 22 innocent people, shocking new figures reveal.
The payment to his lawyers for the equal rights complaint adds insult to injury for victims’ families already outraged by the £354,015 in legal aid he’s received despite refusing to participate in his own trial.
The 28-year-old, jailed for a minimum of 55 years for helping his suicide bomber brother Salman massacre Ariana Grande fans in 2017, launched the discrimination claim from his cell – only to abandon it before carrying out a vicious attack on prison guards last month.
The Final Insult
For families who lost children as young as eight in the Arena bombing, news that their tax money funded Abedi’s complaints about his treatment represents a grotesque final insult.
My daughter was murdered by this monster and now I’m paying for him to claim he’s being discriminated against?” said one victim’s mother, who asked not to be named. “Where was Saffie-Rose’s right to life? Where was Nell’s right to grow up? This is sickening.”
The religious discrimination claim – details of which prison authorities won’t disclose – was funded through legal aid despite Abedi’s conviction for one of Britain’s worst terrorist atrocities. Prison bosses were forced to instruct their own lawyers to defend against the claim before it was mysteriously discontinued.
Pattern of Violence Continues
The timing of the abandoned claim is particularly galling. Shortly after dropping his discrimination case, Abedi launched a savage attack on prison officers at HMP Frankland in County Durham, seriously wounding guards with a makeshift blade and scalding oil.
This followed his 2022 conviction for attacking two officers at Belmarsh Prison, which added three years and ten months to his sentence. The pattern is clear: a convicted terrorist using violence against those tasked with his custody while simultaneously claiming his rights are being violated.
He’s playing the system,” a prison source told me. “Claims discrimination, gets legal aid, then attacks the very people he’s complaining about. It’s a sick joke.”
£354,015 and Counting
Freedom of Information requests reveal the staggering total of taxpayers’ money spent on Abedi’s legal representation now stands at £354,015. This despite his refusal to even attend much of his trial, showing contempt for the justice system that bent over backwards to ensure his rights.
The breakdown includes:
- Original trial defense costs: £350,000+
- Religious discrimination claim: £1,200
- Additional legal challenges: Ongoing
Every penny represents money that could have supported victims’ families, funded counter-terrorism efforts, or improved prison security. Instead, it lined lawyers’ pockets defending a mass murderer who wouldn’t even show up to court.
The Arena Atrocity
To understand the outrage, one must remember the horror Hashem Abedi helped unleash on May 22, 2017. As thousands of young fans streamed out of Manchester Arena after an Ariana Grande concert, his brother Salman detonated a shrapnel-packed bomb.
Twenty-two innocent people died, including:
- Saffie-Rose Roussos, 8
- Nell Jones, 14
- Sorrell Leczkowski, 14
- Eilidh MacLeod, 14
The youngest victim was just eight years old. Hundreds more were maimed, traumatized, and left with lifelong injuries. Hashem Abedi was equally guilty, having helped plan the attack, source components, and prepare the explosive device that tore through children and parents alike.
Rights Without Responsibilities
The case exposes a justice system that appears to prioritize terrorists’ rights over victims’ dignity. While Abedi claims religious discrimination from his cell, his victims have no voice, no future, no rights at all.
The system is broken when murderers get more support than their victims,” said terrorism expert Professor Michael Clarke. “We’ve created a perverse situation where committing atrocities actually guarantees you extensive legal protection at public expense.”
The religious discrimination claim – whatever its basis – seems particularly rich coming from someone who perverted Islam to justify mass murder. Moderate Muslims have repeatedly condemned the Abedi brothers’ actions as contrary to their faith.
Violence Behind Bars
Abedi’s prison attacks reveal his true nature. In 2022 at Belmarsh, he assaulted officers in an unprovoked attack. Last month at Frankland, he escalated to potentially lethal violence, using improvised weapons to seriously wound guards.
These aren’t the actions of someone facing genuine discrimination – they’re the calculated violence of an unrepentant terrorist. Yet still the legal aid flowed, still the claims were entertained, still the taxpayer footed the bill.
“Prison officers risk their lives daily managing terrorists like Abedi,” said Prison Officers Association spokesman Mark Fairhurst. To see him funded to complain about his treatment while planning attacks on our members is a betrayal of those who keep the public safe.
The Frankland Attack
Details of last month’s attack at HMP Frankland remain shocking. Abedi fashioned a makeshift blade and heated oil before launching his assault on unsuspecting officers. The guards suffered serious injuries requiring extensive hospital treatment.
The attack occurred in one of Britain’s highest-security prisons, housing the most dangerous criminals. That Abedi could obtain materials for such an assault while pursuing discrimination claims speaks to his manipulative nature.
One injured officer’s colleague said: “He nearly killed good people doing their job. People with families, who go to work to keep monsters like him away from society. And we’re paying for his lawyers? It’s obscene.”
Legal Aid Lottery
The Abedi case highlights broader concerns about legal aid allocation. While victims’ families often struggle to access support, convicted terrorists receive hundreds of thousands in public funding.
Legal aid should ensure fair trials, not fund vexatious claims by convicted murderers,” argued victims‘ rights campaigner Sarah Johnson. “Every pound spent on Abedi is a pound not helping genuine victims of injustice.”
The system appears to reward those who game it most effectively. Abedi’s refusal to attend trial didn’t prevent massive legal aid payments. His abandonment of the discrimination claim didn’t trigger any penalty. The message seems clear: abuse the system without consequence.
Victims Forgotten
While Abedi pursued his rights from prison, victims’ families continue suffering. Many face ongoing medical costs, therapy bills, and lost income. Unlike their attacker, they receive no automatic legal aid, no guaranteed support.
My daughter needs therapy every week because of what she saw that night,” one Arena survivor’s parent explained. “We pay for it ourselves while he gets free lawyers for made-up complaints. How is that justice?”
The contrast couldn’t be starker: terrorist gets taxpayer-funded legal support; terror victims get bureaucratic obstacles and means-tested assistance.
Politicians across the spectrum have condemned the payments, calling for urgent reform of legal aid rules for convicted terrorists.
It’s an insult to victims and an abuse of taxpayers’ money,” said one senior MP. We need immediate changes to prevent terrorists exploiting the system designed to ensure justice.
Proposals include:
- Barring legal aid for discrimination claims by those convicted of terrorism
- Requiring participation in trials to receive full legal aid
- Capping total legal aid for the most serious offenders
- Redirecting saved funds to victims‘ support
The Brother’s Shadow
Hashem Abedi remains forever linked to his brother Salman, who died in the blast he created. While Salman achieved the martyrdom he sought, Hashem lives on, costing taxpayers hundreds of thousands while serving his minimum 55-year sentence.
At just 28, he could theoretically live another 50 years in custody. At current rates, his total cost to taxpayers could exceed £20 million – not including legal aid for future claims and appeals.
Every day he lives is another day of expense, another day of insult to our memories,” said a victims’ group spokesperson. “Now we learn we’re funding his complaints too. It has to stop.”
The Abedi case screams for systematic reform. How can a system designed to ensure justice be so easily exploited by those who showed no mercy to innocents? How can mass murderers access funds denied to their victims?
Reform proposals gaining support include:
- Automatic legal aid restrictions for terrorism convictions
- Victim impact statements in legal aid decisions
- Fast-track rejection for abandoned claims
- Recovery of costs from vexatious litigants
We need common sense restored,” argued legal reform advocate Jennifer Mills. “Nobody wants genuine injustice ignored, but convicted terrorists forfeited certain privileges when they chose murder.”
Prison Service Response
The Prison Service defended its handling of Abedi’s claim, noting they successfully defended against it before discontinuation. But questions remain about why such claims are entertained at all.
“We have a duty to respond to legal challenges, however spurious,” a spokesperson said. But we agree the system needs reviewing when terrorists can access funds while showing violence to staff.
Prison officers want stronger protections against inmates who combine legal challenges with physical attacks. “If you assault staff, you should lose privileges, including legal aid access,” argued one union representative.
The True Cost
Beyond the £354,015 headline figure lies the true cost of Abedi’s actions:
- 22 lives ended
- Hundreds injured
- Thousands traumatized
- Millions spent on security, trials, and imprisonment
- Immeasurable grief inflicted on countless families
Against this backdrop, funding his discrimination claims appears not just wasteful but actively cruel to those he helped destroy.
Moving Forward
As pressure mounts for reform, the government faces a choice: continue allowing convicted terrorists to exploit legal aid or protect taxpayers and victims from further insult.
This isn’t about denying justice,” emphasized one Cabinet minister privately. It’s about preventing mass murderers from gaming a system meant to protect the innocent.
Hashem Abedi will spend at least five more decades behind bars. The question is whether taxpayers will continue funding his complaints, appeals, and claims throughout that time – or whether common sense will finally prevail.
For the families of Saffie-Rose, Nell, Sorrell, Eilidh, and 18 others, the answer should be obvious. Their children’s killer has received enough of society’s resources. Not one penny more should flow to the man who helped steal so many futures.
As one grieving father summarized: “He took everything from us. The least society can do is stop giving him more.”
