Mohammed Alfatih

Introduction

Mohammed Alfatih, also known as Mohammed Naim, is a 40-year-old former bodyguard for Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh who was granted asylum in the UK in 2015 and British citizenship in 2020, and who has now been convicted at Birmingham Crown Court of a knife attack on a bailiff outside his Kings Heath home . A jury found him guilty by majority verdict of unlawful wounding, possession of two knives and criminal damage, and cleared him of the more serious charge of wounding with intent . Alfatih, the son of a senior Hamas official, could not be named during his trial due to reporting restrictions, and faces expected extradition to Germany over an alleged plot to attack Israeli targets in Central Europe once he serves his UK sentence .

Background Information

Alfatih was born in Germany and is the second son of former Hamas health minister Bassem Naim . Going by the name Naim, he enrolled in a VIP protection course and was selected to accompany Haniyeh — since deceased — on trips to Egypt and other countries between 2006 and 2008, before being removed from the role because of his behaviour . He later spent time in Malaysia, Qatar and Turkey before arriving in Britain . He had been photographed working for the former Hamas leader, and was under surveillance by a counter-terrorism unit at the time he attacked the bailiff in Birmingham last year .

The Controversy or Incident That Led to Their Cancellation

Convicted of wounding a bailiff with kitchen knives; cleared of wounding with intent.

The court heard that the violence began when an enforcement officer clamped the car of Alfatih’s wife, who was being asked to settle her debts, and was involved in a struggle inside Alfatih’s terraced home . During the two-week trial jurors were shown footage of Alfatih brandishing two large kitchen knives outside his home and lashing out with a knife at the broken window of a van on 14 October last year . He chased the bailiff, Kevin Bucknall, across the street — telling the court he did so to scare him away — and Bucknall was left with cuts to his head and required hospital treatment . Alfatih pleaded not guilty on the grounds of self-defence, saying the attack came a day after he learned one of his brothers had been killed in Gaza .

In his evidence Alfatih said traumatic experiences in his past included being tortured for 25 days while detained in Egypt in 2010 and being shot and injured on two occasions; “I don’t think I was even in my full mind. I didn’t intend anything other than him moving away,” he told the jury . Defence barrister Kate O’Raghallaigh argued he had a heightened perception of danger; Judge George Lubega also ruled on a failed defence application to throw the charges out over prejudicial media coverage, which had included reports of seven arrests by German authorities . Jurors were never told of his Hamas links, and deliberated for more than six hours over three days before convicting him .

Public Reaction and Consequences

Following the conviction, a government source said it was “staggering” that Alfatih had been granted asylum and later given citizenship, and a Home Office spokesperson said Hamas is a proscribed terrorist organisation whose supporters the government condemns . While detained for the bailiff attack, Alfatih was re-arrested after German authorities said he had been part of an alleged plot to attack Israeli targets in Central Europe — the connection to Hamas is stated in the German extradition request — so his conviction now leads into an extradition process rather than release . The case drew wide coverage as a counter-terrorism story colliding with an ordinary court outcome: a wanted man, living under a new identity and citizenship, convicted in an ordinary criminal trial .

Current Status

Alfatih was convicted on 13 November 2026 of unlawful wounding, possession of two knives and criminal damage, and acquitted of wounding with intent; sentencing will take place at a later date . He is expected to be extradited to Germany after he has served any UK sentence, with the German request already asserting his Hamas connection .

Impact on Their Career/Life

The father of four, who worked in IT, faces imprisonment for the wounding followed by removal to Germany and prosecution there over the alleged plot — the end of the settled British life he built after asylum, and the exposure of an identity the reporting restrictions had shielded through the trial .

Sources

• “Former Hamas bodyguard guilty of UK knife attack” — BBC News, 13 November 2026: source