Alfatih Convicted in Birmingham Knife Attack

The jury convicted Alfatih of unlawful wounding and acquitted him of wounding with intent, so the intent count is not part of the verdict. Sentencing is still ahead. Kevin Bucknall was cut on the head and treated at a hospital, and the Hamas allegations the jury did not hear are a separate matter.

A Birmingham Crown Court jury found Mohammed Alfatih, 40, guilty by a majority of unlawful wounding. He was also convicted of two counts of possessing a knife and of criminal damage, and he was acquitted of wounding with intent. Sentencing is set for Jan. 11, 2027. He has been in custody since the attack.

Bailiff Kevin Bucknall was hurt outside Alfatih's home in Kings Heath on Oct. 14, 2025. Bucknall had come to clamp Alfatih's wife's car over more than £2,250 in unpaid parking fines. Jurors saw video of Alfatih at the broken window of Bucknall's van with two kitchen knives. Bucknall was cut on the head and treated at a hospital. Alfatih told the jury he acted in self-defense.

Jurors were not told that counter-terror officers had bailed him ten days earlier on suspicion of a terror offence, or that he was under their surveillance. The BBC has reported that Alfatih, previously known as Mohammed Naim, is the son of former Hamas health minister Bassem Naim and had been a bodyguard for former Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh. He faces extradition proceedings at Westminster Magistrates' Court. German authorities allege he took part in a plot to murder Jewish people. Those allegations are not this conviction.

All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.