London Bridge terror attack: Aussie ‘angels’ taken by evil
THE police officer who was stabbed as he tackled the London Bridge jihadists while armed only with a baton has said ‘sorry’ he was unable to do more.
THE police officer who was stabbed as he tackled the London Bridge jihadists while armed only with a baton has said ‘sorry’ he was unable to do more.
The officer, who has not been named, was one of the first on the scene and was stabbed in the head, arm and leg.
From his hospital bed, he told London Police to let the families of the victims know how moved he is by their plight.
“I’m so sorry I couldnt do more and I want you to know I did everything I could,” he said via a police statement.
“Like every police officer who responded, I was simply doing my job. I didn’t expect the level of love and well wishes I have received.
“I feel like I did what any other person would have done. I want to say sorry to the families that lost their loved ones...
“I am so proud of my colleagues from BTP and everyone from the other emergency services who were on shift that night and did everything they could in the face of danger. I especially want to thank the officers who saved my life and kept me alive. I wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for them.
“Saturday night changed my life, like I’m sure it has for many others. My thoughts are with the people who died in the attack, but also with those that were injured and are recovering in hospital, including the three other officers that were injured, and all the members of the public who rushed to help.”
JIHADISTS’ ‘SICK MIDNIGHT MEETING’
WARNING: The below contains graphic content that may upset some readers
THE evil London Bridge terrorists were caught on camera five days before the attack, joking and hugging as they planned their massacre.
In images that were obtained by The Times, Khuram Butt, 27, Rachid Redouane, 30, and Youssef Zaghba, 22, are seen in the early hours of Monday, May 29, outside a gym in Barking, east London.
The images show Redouane, wearing an Adidas top, place his phone in the street before the trio walk down St Luke’s Avenue.
They are off camera for ten minutes, and it is thought that his phone was left in the street to ensure they were not monitored.
Redouane later returns to retrieve his phone and the group share a joke.
Police officers are now probing the footage.
One of the terrorists – Butt – helped as an assistant at the all-Muslim gym Ummah Fitness which is where they are seen meeting in the images.
The gym is run by Sajeel Shahid, 41, who was part of hate preacher Choudary’s network which allegedly helped set up weapons training in Pakistan for the 7/7 murderers.
SHOCK VIDEO OF FINAL SHOOTOUT
Terrifying vision has also emerged of the moment the three London terrorists are gunned down by police as they brutally stab a man in the street.
The footage (watch above) shows the attackers rushing around a busy entertainment district in the British capital in the final seconds of their horrific rampage.
They can be seen setting upon a victim as he crosses the street looking down at his phone. He is slashed and stabbed a number of times before falling to the ground.
That’s when police arrive, launching a speedy assault on the suspects and bringing an end to their eight minutes of mayhem.
The emergence of the video comes as authorities confirmed the death toll from Saturday’s attack has risen to eight.
The dead include two Australians, a Canadian, three Frenchmen and a Briton. The eighth victim is believed to be a Spanish man who is still officially listed as missing.
On Wednesday, the mother of missing Brisbane woman Sara Zelenak, 21, confirmed her daughter was killed in the London Bridge terror attacks.
Julie Wallace made the heartbreaking announcement, saying her daughter was the second of two young Australians murdered, along with South Australian Kirsty Boden, 28.
“Sara Zelenak is confirmed dead they found her body and has DNA tests confirmed thankyou all for the overwhelming love and support from everyone,’’ Ms Wallace wrote on Facebook.
A vibrant, popular young woman on a working holiday as a nanny, Ms Zelenak was one of eight people murdered by three terrorists in a van and knife rampage, attacked as she left a restaurant with a friend just after 10pm on Saturday.
Ms Wallace is understood to be travelling to London this week.
The Zelenak and Wallace family released a statement through the Met saying they were “devastated” by the loss.
“We are deeply saddened by the tragic loss of our beautiful daughter and sister of Harrison and Scott,” the statement said. “Sara’s family and friends are devastated.
“We would like to thank our friends and family who are helping us through this difficult time,” the statement said. “We will not be making any further comment, and we ask that the media respect our privacy.”
On Thursday, dozens of school friends gathered at Moreton Bay College with current students to remember Ms Zelenak.
“This morning, the current secondary students came together for a special assembly where we gathered as a group to honour Sara’s life,” a statement posted to the school’s Facebook page said.
“Approximately 40 old girls from Sara’s year (2013) have also gathered at the college this morning to remember Sara and support each other.
“Floral tributes are mounting in the quadrangle and there is a definite feeling of love and support throughout the entire community.”
The school said it would discuss the possibility of holding a memorial with Sara’s family.
Ms Boden, a nurse who had been working at nearby Guy’s Hospital, has been called “The Angel of London Bridge’’ by the British media after she was killed when she rushed to help other victims.
A keen traveller and blogger, she had lived in the UK for the past three years and is being mourned by colleagues, her family and boyfriend.
The sad news came as Prime Minister Theresa May made an election-eve vow to tear up human rights laws if they stood in the way of plans to take a tough new approach to suspected terrorists.
Her pledge came hours after it was revealed two of the terrorists involved in the attack had slipped through the security net.
Read more: Melbourne victims in Barcelona terror attack
MORE VICTIMS IDENTIFIED
There are now eight people confirmed dead in the London terror attack after a French man’s body was found in the River Thames.
Xavier Thomas, 45, has been revealed as the eighth victim of Saturday night’s attack after he was thrown into the river by the van being driven be terrorists across London Bridge.
Police searching for the French tourist who went missing after the incident discovered his body in the River Thames this morning, 6km from London Bridge.
Mr Thomas, 45, was walking south on the bridge with his girlfriend Christine Delcros when a van ploughed into pedestrians, before three armed terrorists went on a stabbing frenzy in Borough Market.
Miss Delcros is seriously injured in hospital.
Detectives appealed for information about him after he was reported missing.
Family and friends of the couple had launched a desperate appeal for information about Mr Thomas’s whereabouts after the attack.
Miss Delcros’s sister asked people on Facebook to share her message, saying Xavier was one of the people who could not be found after the attack.
She said: “We’re en route to London, my sister Christine Delcros and her boyfriend Xavier Thomas have been victims of the attack. My sister is seriously injured and hospitalised.”
Canadian woman Christine Archibald, 30, Spanish man Ignacio Echeverria, 39, British man James McMullan, 32, and French men Sebastien Belanger, 36, and Alexandre Pigeard, 27, have all been named as victims.
A 30-year-old man from East London was arrested last night at Ilford on suspicion of the commission, preparation or instigation of terrorist acts and taken into custody.
A 27-year-old man arrested on Monday remains in custody, and a man was taken into custody in Dublin.
SECURITY REVIEW
Police and Britain’s spy agency MI5 will review their handling of the case after it was revealed the third terrorist, Moroccan-Italian citizen Youssef Zaghba, 22, had been arrested trying to get into Syria — but after being thwarted, was able to move to the UK.
According to the reports in the Italian media, he attempted to fly to Syria last year via Turkey, but was detained at the airport in the Italian city of Bologna, where his mother lives.
And Italian media reports security officials had tipped off the UK and Moroccan authorities about the arrest.
It has previously been revealed that the ringleader of the heinous attack, Pakistani-born British citizen Khuram Shazad Butt, 27, was on a terror watchlist after he was twice reported to anti-terror authorities, clashed with police after he unfurled an Islamic state flag and appeared in a TV documentary called The Jihadis next Door.
Butt’s family has said they are “shocked and appalled” by his actions.
“As a family we are shocked and appalled by the actions of Khuram and his associates,” his family said in a statement. “Our heartfelt thoughts and prayers are with the victims and families at this time. Now, more than ever, we need to work together to stop the actions of the mindless few who claim to be acting in the name of Islam.”
The third attacker, Moroccan-born Rachid Redouane, 30, who had Irish residency rights and was living in the UK, was not known to police or MI5.
With two days to go until the British general election, Mrs May indicated she would introduce swath of new terror laws if re-elected.
“I mean longer prison sentences for those convicted of terrorist offences, I mean making it easier for the authorities to deport foreign terrorist suspects back to their own country,’’ she said.
“And I mean doing more to restrict the freedom and movement of terrorist suspects when we have enough evidence to know they are a threat, but not enough evidence to prosecute them in full in court.
“And if our human rights laws stop us from doing it we will change the laws so we can do it.’’
WARNING IGNORED
Italy’s police chief says his force has its “documents and conscience clear” after authorities flagged one of the London Bridge attackers in the European- wide intelligence-sharing system after he was stopped in 2016 en route to Turkey with a one-way ticket.
Franco Gabrielli also says Italy understands how British authorities might have allowed Youssef Zaghba to slip through the cracks. Zaghb, an Italian-Moroccan, was one of three Islamic extremists who killed eight people and wounded dozens in truck and knife attacks near London Bridge last week.
Gabrielli said: “We have our documents and conscious clear, but because we are also responsible people, we can understand the concern, the suffering and the difficulty of those who are called to manage complicated situations.”
Gabrielli spoke to reporters on the Sicilian island of Lampedusa, where police chiefs from nine European Union countries were meeting to discuss migration and terrorism issues. Britain did not participate.
Originally published as London Bridge terror attack: Aussie ‘angels’ taken by evil