A woman claims she was groomed into a relationship by Manchester terrorist Jihad Al-Shamie, who espoused ‘extreme’ views and was physically violent to her

A young woman groomed into a controlling relationship by Manchester synagogue killer Jihad Al-Shamie says he pushed ‘extreme’ views on her and attacked her.

The woman, who left the country after a four-month relationship with the terrorist, has asked not to be named.

The Manchester Evening News reports that she came forward after realising she knew the man who had carried out Thursday’s attack in Crumpsall.

The pair met on Muzmatch, a Muslim dating app, and would meet up at a Premier Inn hotel when Al-Shamie ‘didn’t want her to be around his family’.

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“We used to always meet at the Premier Inn,” she said.

“We would spend time there because he didn’t want to spend time in his house, because he lived with his mum and his brother. We used to spend time there a lot.”

She claims Al-Shamie initially told her he was about 24 when she was still 18 – she later discovered he was actually in his mid-30s.

She also said that Al-Shamie ‘lied’ about his relationship history, and denied having children.

“He does have three kids and I just find it all quite sad, to be honest,” she said.

The woman says Al-Shamie hit her on multiple occasions and tried to impose ‘extreme’ views upon her.

She said: “Neighbours had seen me running out of the house. They called me a taxi. There were loads of situations like that.”

The woman, who grew up in a Muslim family with a less conservative upbringing, says Al-Shamie would tell her she was ‘brought up the wrong way’.

She claims he would put pressure on her to wear traditional coverings and was desperate to marry her. “It was little things like what he expected of me,” she said.

“He wanted me to cover myself, full niqab, everything. He was proper pressuring me for marriage – and I didn’t want to marry him. This was after one month and he was like ‘come to my house’, and he was very forceful – extremely, really.”

She remembered one occasion where Al-Shamie suggested he wanted to join ISIS. She was horrified by his extremism but never believed he would act on his beliefs.

“He used to say ‘I want you to be dedicated to the cause’, and he used to sit there and make me watch videos – like extreme videos – that I had no interest in,” she said.

“I am Muslim and of course I love to learn more – but this stuff was things that I have been raised to not agree with. He used to always say I was taught the wrong way and I wasn’t taught right. He was basically just trying to groom me into what he thought.”

She claims she ended the relationship as she grew concerned about Al-Shamie’s state of mind.

The woman was in college when she first met Al-Shamie, before getting a job in a café. She claims he began to stalk her after the end of their relationship.

She says he found a parking spot near to where she would get a taxi home, before she changed her walking route to avoid him.

She said: “He used to always get told to move because obviously it’s a loading bay. He got tickets, on tickets, on tickets because of it, and he didn’t care.”

The former partner says she recognised the black Kia Picanto he drove in the terror attack because he previously used the vehicle to ‘stalk’ her – regularly pulling up outside her place of work, or turning up outside her home.

Despite moving address and blocking his number, she recalls Al-Shamie still managing to track her down.

During the course of their relationship, the woman says she found Al-Shamie still using Muzmatch.

She says he would message young girls on the site, using false names such as ‘Valentino’ and ‘Ahmed’, and would set up multiple accounts.

“He kept getting banned because of his speech and what he was sending,” she said.

“There were times when he would send me videos of him with other girls, and the girls were quite young.”

The woman recalls Al-Shamie telling her he had ‘rape fantasies’.

“He used to say weird stuff,” she said. “It was just insane. I can’t believe I stayed as long as I did.”

Since Thursday’s attack, it has emerged that the 35-year-old was on bail following an arrest for raping another woman.

Two men – Melvin Cravitz, 66, and Adrian Daulby, 53 – both died during Thursday’s terror attack, while four others were injured. Al-Shamie was shot dead by armed police.

His father, Faraj Al-Shamie, issued a statement on behalf of the family following Thursday’s attack.

He said: “The news from Manchester regarding the terrorist attack targeting a Jewish synagogue has been a profound shock to us.

“The Al-Shamie family in the UK and abroad strongly condemns this heinous act, which targeted peaceful, innocent civilians.

“We fully distance ourselves from this attack and express our deep shock and sorrow over what has happened.

“Our hearts and thoughts are with the victims and their families, and we pray for their strength and comfort.”