Post-Incident Report: Hartlepool Bladed Weapons Attack

• On 15 October 2023, Ahmed Ali Alid, a 45-year-old Hartlepool-based individual conducted a fatal terrorist attack in Hartlepool town centre, UK. {1} {2}
• Alid used a Bladed Weapon to attack and injure a housemate before killing a member of the public.
• Alid claimed the attack was motivated by the Israel-Hamas conflict.
• This is the first declared terrorist attack in the UK where the Israel-Hamas conflict has been the primary motivating factor. It is highly likely that the ongoing conflict will act as a driver of UK terrorism threat in the short-term.

• On 15 October 2023 at approximately 05:00hrs, Ahmed Ali Alid entered his housemate’s room with two kitchen knives and stabbed him in the chest. Alid was subsequently restrained by another housemate and locked out of the room.
• Alid later exited the residence and entered the street with a 20cm knife. He then attacked and murdered a member of the public. Alid was later disrupted by armed police and arrested.
• Following his arrest, Alid told police that the attack was “for the people of Gaza”. Alid claimed that he intended to kill more people before he was stopped by armed police. During a police interview, Alid later attacked two female police officers and shouted “Palestine” and “Allahu Akbar”. {3}
• Alid had travelled from Morocco to Spain in 2007. He had spent time in 13 different European countries before he arrived in the UK in 2020. Alid claimed asylum and spent three years living in a hostel in Hull and then state-funded accommodation in a terraced house in Hartlepool; the scene of the attack.
• On 17 May 2024, Alid was sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum term of 44 years and 152 days on the grounds that the attack was a murder “done for the purpose of advancing a political, religious, racial, or ideological cause”. {4} {5}

• The attack conducted by Alid is the first declared terrorist attack in the UK where the Israel-Hamas conflict has been the primary motivating factor. It is highly likely that the ongoing conflict will act as a driver of UK terrorism threat in the short term as individuals may become inspired to conduct attacks in response to the current conflict.
• The use of a Bladed Weapon to conduct this attack is consistent with recent UK terrorism threat trends, where ease of access to Bladed Weapons and the low sophistication methodology needed to conduct a Bladed Weapons attack has led to an increase in the number of this type of attack in the UK and overseas.
• It is highly likely that any terrorist attack conducted in the UK would be conducted by an individual or small cell using a low-sophistication methodology. E.g., Bladed or Blunt Force Weapons, Vehicle as a Weapon, or Fire as a Weapon.
• Whilst the vast majority of irregular refugee arrivals to the UK have no affiliation to terrorism, Alid’s attack demonstrates the realistic possibility that a small number of arrivals at refugee and/or asylum seeker facilities could have the intent to facilitate terrorist activity in the UK.

Intelligence Cut-Off Date: 17 May 2024