Suspected Hamas member guilty of UK knife attack

A suspected Hamas member, wanted in Germany over an alleged plot to murder Jewish people, has been found guilty of a knife attack on a bailiff outside his UK home.Mohammed Alfatih, also known as Mohammed Naim, is reported to have acted as a bodyguard to the leader of Hamas before being granted asylum in the UK in 2015 and British citizenship in 2020.The 40-year-old was found guilty by majority verdict of unlawful wounding, possession of two knives and criminal damage. He was cleared of the more serious charge of wounding with intent.The incident involving the bailiff happened in Birmingham last year, while Alfatih was under surveillance by a counter-terrorism unit. He could not been named during his trial due to reporting restrictions.During the trial, footage was shown of Alfatih brandishing two large kitchen knives outside his home in the suburb Kings Heath.He 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.However, jurors were not told of Alfatih's alleged links to proscribed terrorist group Hamas, as described in a German extradition request, or his reported work as a bodyguard to the former leader of Hamas, Ismail Haniyeh.While detained for the attack on the bailiff in Birmingham, he was re-arrested after authorities in Germany said he had been part of an alleged plot to attack Israeli targets in Central Europe. Alfatih, who was born in Germany, is expected to be extradited after he has served his sentence in the UK, with his alleged connection to Hamas stated in the German extradition request.During his evidence, he did not mention the group, but told the court he had been tortured for 25 days while detained in Egypt in 2010.