Muzmatch Monster: Attacker 'Groomed' Ex-Girlfriend for Extremism

A young woman has bravely come forward to speak out about her terrifying relationship with the Manchester synagogue terrorist, Jihad Al-Shamie, offering a disturbing look into the attacker's personal life and alleged controlling behaviour in the months leading up to the deadly attack.

The woman, a college student who was 18 at the time, described how Al-Shamie, who was 35 and a father, allegedly repeatedly attacked her during their four-month on-off relationship and ruthlessly tried to impose his "extreme" views on her, she told the local media.

The woman, who has since left the country due to fear, asked not to be named. She is concerned that her family back in Greater Manchester could face reprisals for speaking out against the man identified by police as the perpetrator of the horrific attack on the Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation synagogue on Yom Kippur.

She revealed she met Al-Shamie, a British citizen of Syrian descent, on the Muslim dating app Muzmatch (now known as Muzz). It was on this platform that the relationship began, evolving into a coercive dynamic where Al-Shamie allegedly attempted to push an increasingly radical lifestyle onto her.

Recalling one occasion where she fled their shared accommodation, she said: "Neighbours had seen me running out of the house. They called me a taxi. There were loads of situations like that," suggesting a pattern of violence and distress.

She says Al-Shamie would tell her she was 'brought up the wrong way' and claims he would relentlessly put pressure on her to wear traditional Islamic coverings. She stated: "It was little things like what he expected of me. He wanted me to cover myself, full niqab, everything."

The young woman's account adds to the growing, complex picture of the attacker’s life that has emerged since the terror attack on Thursday, 2 October 2025, which saw two people killed and three injured.

Al-Shamie's Troubled Background Comes to Light-In a separate, shocking development, it was also confirmed by security sources that Al-Shamie was on police bail for an alleged rape at the time he carried out the antisemitic atrocity. The alleged sexual attack is understood to have occurred earlier in the same year. He was also known to have previous criminal convictions for lesser offences, though he had not been flagged to the UK’s counter-terrorism programme, Prevent, nor was he on the radar of MI5.

Jihad Al-Shamie, who grew up in Manchester and was naturalised as a British citizen in the mid-2000s, was shot dead by armed police at the scene after ramming a car into worshippers and stabbing a man. He was found to be wearing a vest that appeared to be an explosive device, which was later deemed to be a non-viable fake.

The Home Secretary confirmed that while he was not a known terror risk, police are now investigating the possibility that Al-Shamie "may have been influenced by extreme Islamist ideology." His family, in a statement released shortly after the attack, strongly condemned his actions, calling it a "heinous act" that was a "profound shock to us."

The chilling testimony from the ex-girlfriend who met him on a Muslim dating app and was allegedly subjected to his controlling and violent behaviour is now a critical piece of the ongoing counter-terrorism investigation, as authorities scramble to piece together the attacker's path to radicalisation.