Former Hamas bodyguard found guilty over Birmingham knife attack on bailiff
A man described as a former Hamas bodyguard has been found guilty of a knife attack on a bailiff outside his home in Birmingham, England. The man, Mohammed Alfatih, also known as Mohammed Naim, is 40 years old, and the Guardian reported that the verdict was returned on Friday.
Alfatih was convicted by majority verdict, meaning not all jurors agreed, of unlawful wounding, possession of two knives and criminal damage. He was cleared of wounding with intent, the more serious charge he faced. The attack took place on 14 October 2025 outside his home in Kings Heath, a district of Birmingham. A bailiff, an official who enforces court orders, was left with cuts to his head and needed hospital treatment. He was named as Kevin Bucknall.
At the time of the attack, Alfatih was under surveillance by a counter-terrorism unit, the police team that monitors terrorism threats. He is the son of a senior Hamas official. Hamas is the Palestinian militant group that has been designated a terrorist organisation by the UK government.
Alfatih was granted asylum in the UK in 2015, meaning he was allowed to stay on protection grounds, and became a British citizen in 2020. He was born in Germany, and German authorities want him for allegedly plotting to murder Jewish people and attack Israeli targets in central Europe. He is expected to be extradited, which means formally transferred to another country to face charges, to Germany after serving his sentence in the UK.
The German case is part of a wider investigation. In September, German prosecutors charged seven suspected Hamas members over an alleged plot to target Jews or Israelis in Germany or Austria around the second anniversary of the 7 October attack on Israel. German authorities allege that "Mohammed A" played a prominent role in transporting and storing weapons for the plot. According to reporting by the Guardian, the alleged plot was disrupted by Germany's domestic intelligence service after a tip-off from Mossad, Israel's intelligence agency.
The Birmingham case and the German charges are separate proceedings. Alfatih's conviction concerns the attack on the bailiff, while the German allegations concern the alleged plot.
