Hashem Abedi remanded in custody after appearing in court on mass murder charges

This article is more than 1 year old

This article is more than 1 year old

The younger brother of the Manchester Arena bomber has been denied bail as he awaits trial on charges of mass murder.

Hashem Abedi, 22, appeared at Oxford crown court via video link from HMP Belmarsh in south-east London on Monday.

Raised in Manchester, Abedi travelled to Libya before his older brother Salman Abedi detonated his explosive vest as fans left an Ariana Grande concert on 22 May 2017, killing 22 people and injuring 260.

Abedi faces 22 counts of murder, one count of attempted murder encompassing all the other victims, and one count of conspiring with his brother to cause explosions.

He is accused of making both successful and unsuccessful attempts to buy bomb-making chemicals. It is also alleged that Abedi assisted in buying a Nissan Micra to store device components, and made detonator tubes for use in the explosive.

He was arrested in Tripoliin 2017 but only extradited to the UK on Wednesday.

A seated Abedi, wearing a grey jumper and glasses, spoke only to confirm his name at the start of the 10-minute hearing.

The judge, Mr Justice Sweeney, ordered him to be remanded in custody ahead of a preliminary court hearing to be held either at the Old Bailey in London or in Oxford on 30 July.

Following his extradition last week, Abedi’s lawyer, Zafar Ali QC, said his client insisted he was innocent. “He denies any involvement in any of the alleged offences.” He added: “He did not oppose extradition. He wanted to come back to clear his name.”