Abdalraouf Abdallah walked out of HMP Full Sutton today just weeks after the Parole Board blocked his release over concerns that he could commit further terror offences
A convicted terrorist who groomed the Manchester Arena bomber has been freed from jail despite still posing a “high risk of serious harm” to the public.
The Parole Board said last month that Abdalraouf Abdallah, 31, should not go free because he continues to hold extremist beliefs and could commit further terror offences. He was released from HMP Full Sutton in East Yorkshire on Tuesday when his sentence came to an end. Despite losing his latest parole board appeal, he is now eligible for automatic release from prison because his sentence – set in court by a judge – has expired.
Abdallah was a significant influence on Salman Abedi, 22, who killed 22 people on May 22, 2017, the inquiry into the Arena attack found.
The Parole Board said in October: “He was assessed as posing a high risk of serious harm to the public, to children and to staff, meaning there are indicators of serious harm, and the potential event could happen at any time and the impact would be serious. The panel accepted these assessments.” The board added: “The panel…accordingly did not direct his release.”
Abdallah was given an extended sentence of nine-and-a-half years, including a jail term of five-and-a-half years, in 2016 for sending jihadis to Syria to join IS. He was released on licence in November 2020 but was recalled to prison after he threatened a resident where he was living.
Abdallah was entitled to be considered for release following his recall to jail but had to be freed at the end of his sentence. Abedi visited him at Altcourse Prison in Liverpool in January 2017, and they talked on the phone as the bomb was being made.
