Hamas suspect guilty of knife attack on UK bailiff

Summarised from 6 outlets · 7 reports · Updated 14 Nov, 03:20 · Archive

A suspected Hamas member has been found guilty of wounding a bailiff outside his Birmingham home.

Mohammed Alfatih, also known as Mohammed Naim, was found guilty at Birmingham Crown Court of unlawful wounding, possession of two knives and criminal damage. He was cleared of wounding with intent. The 40-year-old was born in Germany and is reported to have acted as a bodyguard to a former leader of Hamas, Ismail Haniyeh.

Alfatih was granted asylum in the UK in 2015 and British citizenship in 2020. At the time of the attack on the bailiff in October 2025, he was under surveillance by a counter-terrorism unit.

Jurors were shown footage of Alfatih brandishing two large kitchen knives outside his home in Kings Heath, Birmingham. The bailiff had been visiting because Alfatih's wife owed more than £2,250 linked to unpaid parking fines. Alfatih told the court he chased the bailiff to scare him away after his wife was asked to settle her debts and her car had been clamped by the enforcement officer.

During the trial, jurors were not told of Alfatih's alleged links to the proscribed terrorist group Hamas, as described in a German extradition request, nor that he was under surveillance after being released on bail on suspicion of a terror offence days before the bailiff was attacked.

While detained for the attack on the bailiff, Alfatih was re-arrested after German authorities said he had been part of an alleged plot to attack Israeli targets in central Europe. According to the Daily Mail, German prosecutors say that between 2023 and 2025, Alfatih allegedly made numerous journeys to Turkey, Egypt and Qatar and is accused of transporting weapons and ammunition from Berlin to a storage facility in Vienna ahead of a planned attack on Jews or Israeli diplomats.

Jurors deliberated for over six hours across three days before convicting Alfatih. He has remained in custody since the knife attack and is facing extradition proceedings at Westminster Magistrates' Court.

Alfatih will be sentenced for wounding in Birmingham on 11 January. A Government source characterised the case as "a staggering example of the loss of border control under the last Conservative government who granted his asylum claim and gave him citizenship".

How it is being reported

• Secret life of softly-spoken family man whose neighbours had no idea he was an ex-Hamas bodyguard accused of plotting to murder Jews in EuropeResidents in Kings Heath, Birmingham, had no clue that Mohammed Alfatih Naim was once a Hamas bodyguard and was now sought by Germany as the alleged ringleader of a European terror plot.Daily Mail · 14 Nov, 02:00
• Former Hamas bodyguard convicted of Birmingham knife crime also wanted in GermanyMohammed Alfatih rearrested over alleged plot to target Israelis in Europe while detained for attack on bailiff A former Hamas bodyguard convicted of knife crime in the UK is wanted in Germany for allegedly plotting to murder Jewish people. Details of the plot can now be reported after Mohammed Alfatih, also known as Mohammed Naim, was found guilty on Friday of a knife attack on a bailiff outside his home in Birmingham. Continue reading...Guardian World · 13 Nov, 17:14
• Government blames Tories for giving British citizenship to ‘Hamas bodyguard’Mohammed Alfatih was granted asylum in Britain in 2015 and British citizenship in 2020.Evening Standard · 13 Nov, 14:45
• Hamas terror suspect guilty of wounding bailiff over wife’s unpaid parking finesGermany-born Mohammed Alfatih, also known as Mohammed Naim, is reported to have acted as a bodyguard to the leader of Hamas.Evening Standard · 13 Nov, 13:59
• Hamas terror suspect guilty of wounding bailiff in violent knife attack over wife’s unpaid parking finesMohammed Alfatih was found guilty at Birmingham Crown Court and is due to be sentenced in JanuaryThe Independent · 13 Nov, 13:44
• Hamas chief’s bodyguard ‘planned to kill Jews’ after being granted UK asylumAn alleged Hamas bodyguard is said to have targeted the Jewish community after the UK gave him British citizenship. Mohammed Alfatih, who is also known as Mohammed Naim, is believed to have been the bodyguard of the terror organisation's former leader, Ismail Haniyeh. After he arrived in the UK more than a decade ago, the 40-year-old was granted asylum in 2015, and the government later granted him citizenship. Now, Alfatih has been found guilty of unlawful wounding, possession of two knives and criminal damage. He was found not guilty of wounding with intent. The incident related to the…GB News · 13 Nov, 13:18
• Suspected Hamas member guilty of UK knife attackMohammed Alfatih was granted asylum in the UK in 2015 and British citizenship in 2020.BBC News · 13 Nov, 12:39

In this story: Mohammed Alfatih · Ismail Haniyeh · Hamas · Birmingham · Germany · UK

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