Former Hamas Bodyguard Found Guilty of Knife Attack on UK Bailiff

A former bodyguard to slain Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh has been found guilty of attacking a bailiff with knives outside his home in Birmingham, United Kingdom.

The defendant, 40-year-old Mohammed Alfatih, also known as Mohammed Naim, was convicted at Birmingham Crown Court following a trial over the October 2025 incident.

Alfatih was found guilty of unlawful wounding and two counts of possessing a knife. He was, however, cleared of the more serious charge of wounding with intent. The jury reached its verdict after deliberating for more than six hours over three days.

The court heard that Alfatih confronted bailiff Kevin Bucknall, who had visited his home in Kings Heath to enforce a debt linked to unpaid parking fines owed by Alfatih’s wife.

During the confrontation, Alfatih smashed a window of the bailiff’s vehicle with a half-brick and wielded two kitchen knives. Prosecutors told the court that he struck towards the vehicle’s window with one of the knives, leaving Bucknall with a head injury that required hospital treatment.

Alfatih told the court that he had acted to scare the bailiff away after his wife’s vehicle was clamped. His defence argued that he believed he was in danger and that past traumatic experiences had affected his perception of the situation.

The case has drawn further attention because of Alfatih’s reported links to Hamas. He is said to have served on the personal security detail of the group’s former leader, Ismail Haniyeh, who was assassinated in Iran in 2024.

Alfatih was granted asylum in the UK in 2015 and became a British citizen in 2020. His alleged Hamas connections and a separate German investigation were not disclosed to the jury during the Birmingham trial.

He is also wanted by German authorities over an alleged plot to attack Jewish and Israeli targets in Germany and neighbouring Austria. The alleged plan, which investigators say was intended to coincide with the second anniversary of the October 7, 2023 attacks, is the subject of separate extradition proceedings.

The allegations in the German case have not been determined by a court. Alfatih remains in custody in the UK and is due to be sentenced for the Birmingham offences on January 11, 2027.