Wigan<\/a>, and Amar Hussein, 52, of no fixed abode, deny terror charges<\/p>\nThe two men plotted to kill ‘as many Jews as possible’ in Manchester after amassing a huge arsenal of guns and ammunition were thwarted by an undercover operative, the prosecutor told the court on Wednesday when he began his opening address at Preston Crown Court.<\/p>\n
![](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/1_MEN_Preston-Crown-Court.jpg\")
Preston Crown Court(Image: MEN Media)<\/p>\n
When counter terror cops arrested him, Mr Saadaoui tried to flee but officers found two assault rifles, a semi-automatic pistol and almost 200 rounds of ammunition in his car, the court has been told. He was awaiting delivery of a further two assault rifles, another pistol and more ammunition, according to the Crown.<\/p>\n
Walid Saadaoui\u2019s \u2018deep hatred\u2019 of Jews was demonstrated in his posts on Facebook, the KC told the court. He is said to have posted a video of Islamic State fighters in which it was said: \u201cYes, with all violence, strike at their position, demolish the place on their heads, we will soon to attack the Jewish enemy forces on the Egyptian border, we told them before that the war has not yet begun.\u201d<\/p>\n
Walid Saadaoui posted images of dead bodies following an attack in Jerusalem and posted \u2018nine Jewish corpses\u2019, the court was told. He was said to have posted: \u201cNine Jewish corpses. O Allah, increase and bless\u2026 You see something beautiful today.\u201d<\/p>\n
The jurors were told that Walid Saadaoui had withdrawn \u00a390,000 in cash by almost emptying various bank accounts \u2018within a month or so\u2019 and so he had \u2018more than enough money to carry out his attack\u2019.<\/p>\n
Walid Saadaoui had withdrawn the cash also for his family so the authorities \u2018could not seize it\u2019 after he had completed his plan of \u2018murdering people\u2019 and he had become a \u2018martyr\u2019, said the prosecutor.<\/p>\n
The defendant had owned a restaurant in Great Yarmouth and when he sold it he moved his family to Crankwood Drive in Wigan, the court heard. When police searched Walid Saadaoui\u2019s home in Wigan, officers found a ‘hidden’ safe hidden under a brick outhouse, the court was told.<\/p>\n
In the safe officers found a rucksack which had \u00a374,000 cash inside it, the jurors were told. The jurors were told that Walid\u2019s brother Bilal had a key to the safe which was found when officers searched his home.<\/p>\n
Walid Saadaoui kept the money there for his family for after the \u2018atrocity\u2019 he was planning to commit \u2018in the name of Islam\u2019, said Mr Sandhu.<\/p>\n
![](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/1760047405_168_0_Daesh-court-case.jpg\")
(left to right) Walid Saadaoui, Bilel Saadaoui and Amar Hussein appearing at Preston Crown Court(Image: PA)<\/p>\n
The jurors weRe told that the undercover operative Farouk, under the name Abu Bilal, sent a friend request to Walid Saadaoui\u2019s \u2018Liya Ernia\u2019 Facebook account on December 13, 2023.<\/p>\n
The Facebook page featured a picture of the mastermind of the Paris terror attacks Abdelhamid Abaaoud, the court heard.<\/p>\n
The request was accepted and Farouk asked the defendant: \u201cPeace and blessing of God be up on, how did you get to know the martyr brother Abdul Hamid?\u201d<\/p>\n
The jurors were told Farouk replied: \u201cI am from Belgium, that\u2019s how I got to know him.\u201d Abdelhamid Abaaoud was Belgian and the defendant was convinced he was communicating with a \u2018like-minded individual\u2019, the court was told.<\/p>\n
The defendant\u2019s interest was \u2018piqued\u2019 and he asked if he knew Abdul Hamid \u2018personally\u2019.<\/p>\n
Farouk is said to have answered: \u201cNo, he used to live five minutes away from me, and I am from a Moroccan background, I didn\u2019t know him personally.\u201d<\/p>\n
Walid Saadaoui was said to have replied: \u201cMay God preserve you. You need to do what he had done, make him a role model and carry out operations against the Jews and the Crusaders there, and hitting them there affects them badly.\u201d<\/p>\n
The defendant then asked Farouk \u2018how much an automatic gun costs in Belgium?\u2019 before deleting the post.<\/p>\n
The defendant was also said to have told Farouk: \u201cI can use a knife in the operation, but this will not be enough to take revenge, only the automatic gun. I want to kill as many as possible.\u201d<\/p>\n
He is said to have added: \u201cI have an overwhelming anger, I feel sometimes I will go out and kill them with stones then I say to myself, it will be a waste, I have to do many.\u201d<\/p>\n
The prosecutor said: \u201cTo put it bluntly these are messages about mass murder.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mr Saadoui and Farouk repeatedly discussed how to source weapons from north Africa, and the defendant suggested it would be ‘easy’ to smuggle weapons through Northern Ireland.<\/p>\n
The prosecutor said Walid Saadoui used the name Will Alba on Facebook to join a group called \u2018Manchester Jewish Community\u2019, convincing the administrator he was a member of a synagogue in Croydon and had recently moved to Manchester.<\/p>\n
It was \u2018to get information\u2019 about gatherings of Jews so he could commit atrocities, the jurors were told.<\/p>\n
The defendant also joined a Facebook group of the Jewish Representative Council of Greater Manchester which posted details about a \u2018March Against Antisemitism\u2019 which had been held on January 21, 2024, and was attended by thousands of people, the jurors were told.<\/p>\n
The jurors heard that Walid Saadaoui also exchanged voicenotes with Farouq, and that in one he told the undercover operative: \u201cSo when we see a child with his internals sticking out killed by a Jew, glory be to God, you wouldn\u2019t have you can\u2019t even describe the feeling\u2026 I am on the same course, following the same things you were saying.<\/p>\n
“We only ask God to make some things easy. As I told you sheikh, these matters of running someone over with a car or using a knife is ineffective. What is needed is an automatic gun, an automatic gun.<\/p>\n
“Did you see what Aba \u2019Oud [did], we want to do the same as what Aba \u2018Oud done, God willing. We must run rivers of their impure bloods.\u201d<\/p>\n
In another voicenote Mr Saadouii also suggested driving ‘a big truck’ into crowds.<\/p>\n
The pair started talking on the phone from January 14, 2024, often about how to smuggle guns into England, the court heard.<\/p>\n
The defendant told Farouk each gun would have to come with at least 200 rounds of ammunition each, the jurors are told.<\/p>\n
He was said to have told the undercover operative: \u201cI told you 200 are a minimum, minimum\u2026 It is better than everyone will carry with him 5 magazines. You can become a martyr in the first minute and you can become a martyr after one week or 3 days.\u201d<\/p>\n
The prosecutor told the jurors: \u201cHe was speaking about pure, unadulterated terrorism.\u201d<\/p>\n
Waalid Saadoui was said to have discussed with Farouk the role the supplier of the guns should play at the exchange.<\/p>\n
He was said to have told Farouk: \u201cTry to explain to him that these matters are a question of life and death\u2026 You know when we go and collect the pieces of him, we are suicidal \u2013 with God\u2019s will \u2013 even if he became a martyr in that area his reward is with God.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf someone starts to play up like this or like that, we will shoot at him, directly, directly.\u201d<\/p>\n
The defendant took Farouk to north Manchester which has a \u2018large Jewish population\u2019 with many schools, synagogues and kosher shops, said the prosecutor.<\/p>\n
In another exchange, Waalid Saadoui is said to have told Farouq: \u201cI want to make you understand something brother, I live in England and I know about things\u2026 Here in Manchester, we have the biggest Jewish community\u2026 That is why I am telling you. We will carry out (the operation) here, the biggest delegation of the \u2018impure\u2019 Jews in Europe\u2026 The second biggest congregation, the first one is in London, so this is the second biggest congregation.<\/p>\n
\u201cHere we have schools that serve Jews. Hospitals that serve Jews only, synagogues, temples serve only Jews. Their streets are full of Jews.\u201d<\/p>\n
The defendant said he had gone \u2018undercover\u2019 at Jewish gatherings and marches and that he was \u2018interrogated\u2019 when he tried to join Jewish social media groups.<\/p>\n
Walid Saadaoui, 38, of Crankwood Road, Abram, Wigan<\/a>, and Amar Hussein, 52, of no fixed abode, deny terror charges<\/p>\nThey have pleaded not guilty to preparation of terrorist acts, namely that between December 13, 2023, and May 9, 2024, with the intention of committing acts of terrorism, they arranged for the purchase and delivery of firearms, conducted reconnaissance and made plans of attack.<\/p>\n
Walid\u2019s brother, Bilel Saadaoui, 36, from Hindley, Wigan, has pleaded not guilty to a single charge of failing to disclose acts of terrorism between the same dates.<\/p>\n
Proceeding.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Walid Saadoui, 38, and Amar Hussein, 52, deny terror charges 18:08, 09 Oct 2025Updated 18:13, 09 Oct 2025…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":486718,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8813],"tags":[748,30,393,4884,2465,3044,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-486717","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-manchester","8":"tag-britain","9":"tag-courts","10":"tag-england","11":"tag-great-britain","12":"tag-manchester","13":"tag-prestwich","14":"tag-uk","15":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115346473358603753","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/486717","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=486717"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/486717\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/486718"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=486717"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=486717"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=486717"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/0_Daesh-court-case.jpg\")
(left to right) Walid Saadaoui, Bilel Saadaoui and Amar Hussein appearing at Preston Crown Court(Image: PA)<\/p>\n