Brother of Manchester bomber sentenced to 55 years imprisonment

Hashem Abedi, brother of Manchester Arena suicide bomber, was sentenced to at least 55 years in prison at the Old Bailey court in London Thursday, reported Xinhua.

Abedi helped source, buy, stockpile and transport the components for his brother Salman Abedi's bomb during the terror attack at the Manchester Arena on May 22, 2017.

Twenty-two people were killed and hundreds of others wounded when Salman Abedi detonated a shrapnel-laden homemade bomb at the end of a concert by American singer Ariana Grande. It was the worst terror attack in Britain since the London bombings in 2005 in which 52 people died.

Hashem Abedi was found guilty in March of 22 counts of murder, attempted murder and a charge of conspiracy to cause explosions. He was in Libya with his family when the bomb went off and was arrested and extradited back to Britain to face trial.

The brothers bought huge amounts of chemicals online for their bomb, and met with a convicted Islamic State (IS) terrorist as they plotted the atrocity.

Abedi had refused to leave his prison cell on Wednesday. The judge, Justice Jeremy Baker, said he had no power to direct that force be used to compel Abedi to come into courtroom for the hearing.

Some parents broke down in tears in the courtroom as they recalled the moment they discovered their children had died. A number of moms and dads held up photos of their children to the judge.