Texas synagogue siege: US gun supplier jailed for almost eight years

A Texan who sold a British man a pistol he later used in an attack on a US synagogue has been jailed for almost eight years.

Henry "Michael" Dwight Williams, 33, sold the gun to Malik Faisal Akram two days before the siege at the Congregation Beth Israel in a suburb of Dallas, Texas, in January.

Akram, who took four hostages, was shot dead by officers.

Williams was arrested just over a week later.

He pled guilty in June to being a felon in possession of a firearm, prosecutors say. Williams had previous convictions for aggravated assault, which meant, US Attorney Chad Meacham noted, he "had no business carrying - much less buying and selling - firearms".

"Whether or not he knew of his buyer's nefarious intent is largely irrelevant - felons cannot have guns, period," he added in a news release.

In an interview on 24 January, Williams admitted selling the gun to a man with a "British accent" in south Dallas, the US Attorney's Office said.

On 15 January, Akram entered the synagogue in Colleyville, near Dallas, during a morning service, pretending to be homeless. He then pulled out a gun.

One hostage was released after six hours, while the the synagogue's rabbi, Charlie Cytron-Walker, and two others escaped several hours later, after the rabbi threw a chair at the gunman.

During the standoff Akram, 44, was heard demanding the release of Aafia Siddiqui, a Pakistani neuroscientist who is serving an 86-year prison sentence in nearby Fort Worth, Texas, over attempts to kill US soldiers in Afghanistan.

Siddiqui distanced herself from his actions, issuing a statement through a lawyer.