The brother of the suicide bomber who targeted an Ariana Grande concert in Britain and killed 22 people has been sentenced to a minimum of 55 years in prison.
Hashem Abedi refused to enter the courtroom on Thursday at London’s Central Criminal Court, according to NBC News. Justice Jeremy Baker, the judge, said Abedi would have received a life sentence if he, “like his brother, had been 21 or over at the time of the offense.”
Baker said Abedi was motivated to carry out the attack because of his Islamist ideology, “a matter distinct to and abhorrent to the vast majority for those who follow the Islamic faith.”
Abedi should “clearly understand the minimum term he should serve is 55 years,” Baker added, noting that he might never see the outside of a prison cell again.
Hashem’s brother, Salman Abedi, detonated an improvised explosive device at the arena shortly after Grande’s concert had ended in May 2017. In addition to killing nearly two dozen people, it wounded more than 100.
Abedi was found guilty in March after a trial in which his involvement in planning the attack was scrutinized. Prosecutors said that Abedi helped his older brother in procuring the chemicals needed to produce the explosive and in purchasing the bolts and screws that they used to pack the device with shrapnel.
The two brothers moved with their families from Britain to Libya a month before the attack, but Salman was able to return and carry out the bombing. Hashem was in Libya when the bomb exploded, but he was eventually extradited to Britain in 2019 to face the charges.
