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The suspect responsible for the deadly attack at a Jewish house of worship in Manchester was free on bail from authorities related to an alleged rape at the time, as per reports.

Jihad al-Shamie, who was 35 years old, was under investigation over an alleged sexual assault that reportedly occurred in recent months.

Al-Shamie, who was born in Syria, is also thought to have previous criminal convictions, though he had not drawn attention from anti-terror authorities.

The assailant was fatally shot by armed officers after he killed a member of the Jewish community and caused serious harm to several other people during the assault on the Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation synagogue in north Manchester on Thursday.

Two individuals, Adrian Daulby, 53 and 66-year-old Melvin Cravitz, died in the attack. One of them was fatally hit a bullet fired by armed police targeting the attacker.

Counter-terrorism police and security services are working to uncover the assailant's history, with indications that he chose the holiest day in Judaism, the most sacred day in the Jewish calendar, to target worshippers.

Even though the attacker had not been flagged to counter-terrorism agencies or enrolled in the anti-radicalisation scheme Prevent, he had been prosecuted for criminal offenses.

It remains unclear when the alleged sexual assault took place, but Shamie had been bailed while being investigated by local law enforcement.

One source indicated that he had additional criminal convictions, albeit for less serious crimes with no connection to terrorism.

“He was on nobody’s radar for terrorism but he certainly possessed a criminal record, though no indication he was going to do anything like this,” an informant remarked.

Police are examining whether the attacker sent a threatening message to a ex-Member of Parliament in the year 2012.

The email to the former MP was sent by someone identifying as “Jihad Alshamie” and stated, “It is people like you who deserve to die.”

The former MP, who stepped down as MP for Henley in 2024, said he was unsure if it was the identical individual and believed that police did not treat the threat against his life with adequate seriousness back then.

A news report from 2012 indicated that Howell may have been singled out due to his pro-Israel stance.

“The last thing I want to appear as is a drama queen, but you have to take seriously a threat when it says, ‘I would like to see you dead,’” Howell said in 2012, in coverage from media outlets.

“It is not just a question of me, it is my family and my staff. All it takes is one person out there who is weird enough, with a warped perspective of life, to make an attempt to carry this out.” He noted that Thames Valley police had given him “extremely good security advice.”

Police have not confirmed whether the “Jihad Alshamie” who messaged Howell is the same individual who carried out the synagogue attack, but they are investigating a possible link.

Shabana Mahmood, Shabana Mahmood, stated that Shamie was not under active investigation by counter-terrorism police or security agencies at the time of the incident. They did not believe he had previously been on their radar, although investigations were continuing.