Restaurant owner ‘sold business to fund gun attack on Jewish community’, court told
Prosecutors say Walid Saadaoui sold his Norfolk restaurant to buy AK-47s for an ISIS-inspired attack in Manchester
A former restaurant owner sold his seaside business to buy assault rifles and ammunition for a terrorist attack targeting Jewish people in Manchester, a court has heard.
Prosecutors at Preston Crown Court said Walid Saadaoui, 38, used proceeds from the sale of the Albatross Restaurant in Great Yarmouth to fund the purchase of firearms and ammunition as part of an Islamic State-inspired plot.
According to Sky News, Saadaoui, who later moved to Wigan, allegedly arranged to buy four AK-47 rifles, two handguns and 1,200 rounds of ammunition to carry out a mass shooting on Jewish targets in the city. He was arrested in a Bolton hotel car park while taking delivery of some of the weapons – from an undercover police officer posing as a supplier.
Prosecutor Kelly Brocklehurst told jurors that Saadaoui began posting extremist content on Facebook in late 2022, using ten different accounts to share propaganda supporting the so-called Islamic State.
Saadaoui’s online posts reportedly included statements such as: “We will fight until death, even if souls have perished and blood has been shed.” Another, shared in June 2023, read: “Should you be martyred or die in the cause of Allah, then his forgiveness and mercy are far better than whatever wealth those who stay behind accumulated.”
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He also shared an image of a Koran beside an AK-47 rifle with the caption:
“A book that guides and a sword that delivers victory.” Other posts allegedly offered “security advice” for would-be attackers, encouraging followers to hide their identities with VPNs, disable phone tracking and “burn apostates’ properties”.
Ms Brocklehurst said Saadaoui withdrew around £70,000 in cash as he prepared for the planned attack, adding that his focus after moving north had been “on planning his terrorist attacks”.
His younger brother Bilel Saadaoui, 36, who led a prayer circle in Preston, is accused of failing to disclose information about the plot. Jurors heard he also shared Islamic State chants and videos of himself exercising to jihadist music.
Saadaoui is on trial alongside Amar Hussein, 52, who prosecutors say helped arrange the weapons deal. Both men deny preparing acts of terrorism.
All three defendants deny the charges. The trial continues at Preston Crown Court.
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