First victim of London Bridge terror attacker identified as shocking connection comes to light
The first victim of the London terrorist attack has been named by his father as it was revealed he had a surprising connection to killer Usman Khan. WARNING: GRAPHIC VIDEO
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A heartbroken father has named Jack Merritt, 25, as one of the two victims of the London Bridge terrorist and begged for his son's death not to spark a law and order election debate.
Coincidentally, Mr Merritt was a Learning Together course councillor and worked with the same prison rehabilitation program that convicted Islamist terrorist Usman Khan, 28, had attended to begin his murderous rampage.
He and a still unnamed woman were both murdered by Khan who was later shot dead by police on London Bridge.
Brits have been shocked to discover Khan had secured an early release from jail despite being part of a plot to blow up the London Stock Exchange.
He was attending the conference at Fishmongers Hall put on by Mr Merritt's group as a guest and example of successful rehabilitation.
UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson has used the attack to push for harsher sentences for terrorists, but Mr Merritt's dad David Merritt took to Twitter to say that is not what his late son would have wanted.
"My son, Jack, who was killed in this attack, would not wish his death to be used as the pretext for more draconian sentences or for detaining people unnecessarily," Mr Merritt wrote.
"R.I.P. Jack: you were a beautiful spirit who always took the side of the underdog."
Mr Johnson has visited the London Bridge area today - where Khan killed two people and injured three others - with Home Secretary Priti Patel and Metropolitan Police Commissioner Cressida Dick.
The UK Prime Minister argued at London Bridge that it was a mistake to let Khan out of jail early and that longer sentences were needed to protect the public.
"This guy was out on automatic early release and I have long said that this system simply isn't working," Mr Johnson said.
"It does not make sense for us as a society for us to putting terrorists out on early release.
"People should serve the sentences they are sentenced to. That's my immediate takeaway from this."
AUSSIE VICTIM'S PARENTS SLAM UK AUTHORITIES
Sara Zelenak’s parents say British authorities did not learn from their daughter’s death in the 2017 London Bridge attack and should have been monitoring terrorist Usman Khan to prevent the latest tragedy.
The Brisbane au pair, 21, was on a night out with friends when she was killed after she slipped in her high heels as she tried to flee from terrorists Khuram Butt, Rachid Redouane and Youssef Zaghba.
British authorities are now under fire after it was revealed Khan, 28, who carried out an attack on London Bridge on the weekend, was a convicted terrorist out on parole.
His release was not referred to the parole board because it was automatic when he had served half of his sentence.
Ms Zelenak’s mother Julie Wallace, 52, said terrorists must be monitored.
“I don’t think they have made a good choice, if they are going to just let him out they have to watch him,” she said.
“It’s not strong enough, they have got to look after people.”
She said that she and husband Mark Wallace, 51, felt awful when they heard the reports of the latest attack, which killed two people and injured three others.
“I woke up really early this morning and I was just unhappy and then we heard the news, all my hairs on my arm stood up on end, it just brought the whole thing back,” Ms Wallace said.
“There’s just so much pain.”
Ms Zelenak, who had been living in London, was stabbed on June 3, 2017, among eight victims who also included South Australian nurse Kirsty Boden, 28.
First responders at the scene worked on Ms Zelenak for at least 10 minutes but she was unable to be saved.
Those who helped her rang the Wallaces yesterday to check if they were okay.
The family’s liaison officer, who helped them through the ordeal, was on London Bridge paying his respects minutes before the latest attack, she said.
“I’m so glad he wasn’t there,” she said.
“We’ve been inundated with calls.”
The latest attack has stunned Ms Wallace because she said it confirmed that nowhere was safe.
“We all travel and we encourage our kids to go overseas and see the world,” she said.
Ms Zelenak’s parents have become advocates for victims of terror attacks and were in Nice, France, last week attending a conference with 750 other terror survivors and their families.
They set up the charity Sarz Sanctuary, which will be having a fundraiser in Cleveland at 4pm on Sunday, Brisbane time.
The money raised will go towards setting a retreat for counselling for terror survivors to be built in the Noosa Hinterland.
QUEEN PRAISES BRAVERY AT ATTACK SCENE
The Queen has sent her "deepest sympathies" to the families of the victims of the London Bridge terror attack.
She also praised the everyday heroes who acted quickly at the scene of the horrific terrorist incident and applauded bystanders who helped pin down the knife-wielding jihadist.
She also commended quick-thinking police officers who shot dead Usman Khan, who killed two people and injured three others.
DRAMATIC END TO LONDON TERROR ATTACK
This is the terrifying moment the London Bridge attacked and convicted Islamic Terrorist was shot dead by police.
Police moved in to assist a brave group who had pinned Usman Khan to the ground and kicked away his knives.
Just moments after the last heroic bystander moves away, gunshot is heard before the flailing figure on the ground stops moving.
Khan, 28, was jailed seven years ago over plans to blow up the London Stock Exchange and set up an overseas Jihadi training camp. But last year, he was released early on parole.
The coward, who had knives strapped to his hand, killed a man and a woman while he was attending a Cambridge University conference aimed to show how prisoners can change.
He was wearing an electronic tracking foot tag and a fake explosive belt at the time of the horrific incident.
The attack injured three others, including a child. It was the second time in two years the iconic landmark has been targeted.
One of the survivors was in critical condition, while another was stable and a third was in hospital but had less serious injuries.
The attack was carried out at 1am AEDT on Saturday (2pm London time on Friday).
OPINION: London attack reminds us we can never be complacent
The deadly incident has also raised questions surrounding how someone who was electronically tagged to monitor his movements could fool authorities into thinking that he was no longer a threat.
Khan, whose family originates from Pakistan, was jailed for his part in a plan to bomb the London Stock Exchange and fund an overseas terror camp.
He was sentenced to eight years jail in 2012, but was released last year after agreeing to wear an electronic tag.
The group planned to set up a jihadi training camp in Pakistan-controlled Kashmir to be used by British jihadis.
Justice Wilkie said when sentencing Khan in 2012: “It was envisaged by them all that ultimately they and the other recruits may return to the UK as trained and experienced terrorists available to perform terrorist attacks in this country, on one possibility contemplated in the context of the return of British troops from Afghanistan.”
Court documents reveal that Khan wanted to be jihadi.
“At some time, the accused each became a committed Islamic fundamentalist, believing in jihad, that is to say, they wished to support and commit acts of terrorism in furtherance of their religious beliefs,” a court document states.
“They came to the attention of the security services who monitored them using covert surveillance techniques and devices and were able to effect their arrest prior to advanced steps having been taken to implement their plans.”
Khan, who was shot dead by police, had been attending a Cambridge University backed conference on prisoner rehabilitation when he threatened to blow up the historic Fishmongers’ Hall next to London Bridge.
He then went on a stabbing rampage before everyday heroes risked their lives to chase him with a fire extinguisher and a narwhal tusk along London Bridge, according to dramatic mobile phone footage.
The heroes have been praised for their bravery as they pinned the attacker down and kicked the knives that were taped to his hands moments before police arrived and warned them to back away in case he had a suicide bomb strapped to his chest.
UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson said that his heart went out to the victims’ families.
And he warned he would get tougher on terrorists before heading into an emergency high level Cobra security meeting.
“I have long argued that it is a mistake to allow serious and violent criminals to come out of prison early,” Mr Johnson said.
“It is very important that we get out of that habit and that we enforce the appropriate sentence for dangerous criminals, especially for terrorists, that I think the public will want to see”.
The Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade told News Corp Australia that no Australians were harmed in this new attack, which happened at 1.58pm London time on Friday afternoon.
Police arrived within five minutes of being called, while the London ambulance was on the scene in seven minutes.
The attack had some of the hallmarks of the London Bridge carnage at the same site on June 3, 2017, where eight people were killed, including Australians Sara Zelenak, 21, and Kirsty Boden, 28.
Since that attack bollards have been put in place on the bridge to prevent pedestrians being mowed down by terrorists using vehicles as a weapon.
Metropolitan Police assistant commissioner Neil Basu confirmed the latest attack on London Bridge was a terrorist incident.
“We are now in a position to confirm the identity of the suspect as 28-year-old Usman Khan, who had been residing in the Staffordshire area. As a result, officers are, tonight, carrying out searches at an address in Staffordshire,” he said.
“This individual was known to authorities, having been convicted in 2012 for terrorism offences. He was released from prison in December 2018 on licence and clearly, a key line of inquiry now is to establish how he came to carry out this attack.”
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Mr Basu also confirmed that a “suicide vest” strapped to the dead terrorist’s chest was a hoax.
The attack comes just weeks after the UK terrorism threat level was downgraded – on November 4 – from “severe” to “substantial”, the BBC reported.
This meant the attacks were thought to be “likely” rather than “highly likely”.
The Joint Terrorism Analysis Centre reviews the terror threat level every six months.
KHAN’S TERRIFYING HISTORY
London Bridge terrorist Usman Khan was part of a terror cell that planned to blow up the London Stock Exchange, send letter bombs through the Royal Mail and carry out a ‘Mumbai style’ terror attack on the Westminster Houses of Parliament.
Khan, 28, who was out on parole when he went on his rampage yesterday, was jailed for eight years for his part in the 2010 plot.
Police also found the addresses of then London mayor Boris Johnson, now Prime Minister, the dean of St Paul’s Cathedral in London, two rabbis and the American embassy at the home of one of his accomplices.
Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, the London Eye, Blackfriars Bridge, and The Church of Scientology were also discussed as targets.
The group was picked up on surveillance in November and December 2010 by police and their plans, which were foiled, were chilling.
The nine men were found to have copies of the Al-Qaeda jihadi online magazine Inspire, which had details of an article “How to make a bomb in the kitchen of your mom.”
They planned to use the step-by-step instructions in the London Stock Exchange plot to put a pipe bomb in the toilets there.
Piers Arnold, a lawyer for the UK’s Crown Prosecution Service, told a court in 2012: “This was a case about nine young men who in October 2010 formed a group for the purpose of carrying out acts of terrorism.
“What they had in common was that they all held extreme fundamentalist religious beliefs and were committed to converting those beliefs into terrorist action.”
They also planned to set up a terror training school in Pakistan-controlled Kashmir where they would send a new generation of British would-be terrorists.
Khan, who was from Stoke-on-Trent, 270 km north of London, wanted to use land that his family owned there to build the camp.
They planned to say the training camp was a traditional Islamic school, saying they could afford to live well on British benefits while in Kashmir.
“On jobseeker’s allowance we can earn that, never mind working for that,” Khan was recording saying on police surveillance.
“There’s victory, what we hope for, there’s shahada (death as martyrs), or there’s prison.”
Justice Wilkie, said in sentencing remarks the case was a “serious, long-term venture in terrorism”.
“It was envisaged by them all that ultimately they and the other recruits may return to the UK as trained and experienced terrorists available to perform terrorist attacks in this country, on one possibility contemplated in the context of the return of British troops from Afghanistan,” he said.
Khan, who was 20 at the time, pleaded guilty to “engaging in conduct in preparation for acts of terrorism” and was given an indeterminate sentence, or no fixed end date, with a minimum of eight years.
However, he overturned the sentence on appeal and was given a maximum sentence of 16 years.
Time served before the case went to trial was also considered to have been factored into his early release date in December 2018.
Prisoners were usually released halfway through their sentences but Khan had served less than seven years when he was freed.
The UK Parole Board said it had no involvement in his release and that Khan “appears to have been released automatically on licence (as required by law), without ever being referred to the board”.
According to ITV News, Khan penned a letter in 2012 from his Belmarsh prison cell asking to be allowed to attend a deradicalisation course so that he could learn to become "a good British citizen."
ELECTRONIC TAGS SUPPOSED TO HELP TRACK CRIMINALS ON PAROLE
New electronic tags were hailed as a crime prevention tool when they were launched earlier this year.
The tags, which monitor prisoners 24 hours a day via GPS, were supposed to help track criminals out on parole.
They were also designed to protect victims of domestic violence to stop their attackers from entering exclusion zones.
The new trackers, announced in February, were in addition to curfew trackers which have been in use for several years.
Former Justice Secretary David Gauke said at the time: “I am confident that this important new technology will become a vital tool to increase public protection and strengthen options for tougher community sentences.”
Police have not released details of the type of tag London Bridge terrorist Usman Khan was wearing.
However, the convicted terrorist had been invited as a guest to the Cambridge University conference about prisoner reform that he attacked.
The tag would have helped identify Khan after the attack and may have been considered when police were deciding whether to shoot to kill when they arrived on the scene.
HEROES WHO BROUGHT DOWN A CRAZED TERRORIST
Khan was brought down with the help ordinary people who cornered him with a fire extinguisher and a giant Narwhal whale tusk.
A mysterious man in a grey suit and black coat - who has since been revealed to be a plain clothes police officer - was also seen running through traffic and leaping over a partition in the road to disarm the attacker.
He was later seen walking away from the incident with the knife in hand, warning bystanders to keep back.
A convicted murderer out on day release was also among the brave group who took on Usman Khan, The Sun reports.
Footage also showed the attacker being cornered by members of the public as he was hit with the spray from a fire extinguisher and held at bay by a giant stick – which witnesses say was a Narwhal whale tusk that had been hanging on the wall of the nearby Fishmongers’ Hall.
Tour guides Thomas Gray and Stevie Hurst also risked their lives to pin the attacker to the ground.
The pair, who drive tourists around London in Mini Coopers jumped out of their car to offer help.
“When we got there he was wielding two knives, one was duct-taped to his hand so all I could do after the guys had held him down and were pinning him to the ground, tried to stamp as hard as I could on his wrist to try and release the knife as it were,” Mr Gray said.
“Someone kicked the knife away, somewhere northbound up London Bridge and then after that the police armed response were really quick, got there almost instantaneously, and at that point we were told he had a bomb vest so we cleared house and got out the way.
Bloody hell. The hoax explosives belt worn by the #LondonBridge terror suspect before he was shot dead by police. pic.twitter.com/re5kBMpEYz
— Julia Hartley-Brewer (@JuliaHB1) November 29, 2019
Mr Gray said that the suspect was shot after they kicked away his knives.
“I hid behind a school bus full of little children … got the bus turned around and they went back south over London Bridge,” he said on ITV.
“At that point we were told to stay where we were, as we were then told he had a gun as well. So we just stayed put, heard another shot and a little explosion and we just heard ‘run’ so we just turned and hightailed it south over London Bridge and heard 15 or so gunshots.”
Mr Hurst told how he kicked the killer in the head to keep him on the ground.
“Everyone was just on top of him trying to bundle him to the ground,” he told the BBC.
“We saw that the knife was still in his hand … I just put a foot in to try and kick him in the head.
“We were trying to do as much as we could to try and dislodge the knife from his hand so he wouldn’t harm anyone else.
“The guy was just screaming ‘get off me, get off me!’ as if people were just going to let him go.
“But we wanted to make sure he would never do this again, that he was never going to harm another human being on the planet.
“The guys that were there were absolutely amazing. Heroes beyond belief.”
On the plain clothed police officer, a male onlooker said: “He ran through traffic and jumped the central partition to tackle the attacker with several others.
“We ran away but looks like he disarmed him. Amazing bravery.”
A guy who was with us at Fishmongers Hall took a 5’ narwhale tusk from the wall and went out to confront the attacker. You can see him standing over the man (with what looks like a white pole) in the video. We were trying to help victims inside but that man’s a hero #LondonBridge
— Amy Coop (@theamycoop) November 29, 2019
A man who killed a 21-year-old with learning difficulties in 2004 was also among those who helped during the attack.
The Sun reports James Ford, 42, saved a woman’s like after she was knifed by the crazed terrorist.
The family of the murdered girl, Amanda Champion, said Ford should not be labelled a hero.
“He is not a hero. He is a murderer out on day release, which us as a family didn’t know anything about,” her aunt Angela Cox said.
“He murdered a disabled girl. He is not a hero, absolutely not.”
Reflecting back on having the terrorist pinned to the ground, Mr Gray said shots were fired by police, killing the attacker on scene, as soon as knives were kicked away.
In Fishmongers Hall, a woman by the name of Coralie told The Sun she saw a girl bleeding from her arms run out of the hall, before witnessing the attacker strike a number of people including a child.
“One minor and the other two were proper bleeding,” she said.
“One of our colleagues is in the hospital with three stabs.”
The terrorist attack comes just two years after a van ploughed into pedestrians on London Bridge on June 3, 2017, and its occupants went on a stabbing spree. Eight people were killed, including two Australian women.
ANOTHER STABBING, HOURS LATER
The attack also came just a few hours before three more people were wounded in another stabbing at The Hague on a busy shopping strip.
Police have apprehended a 35-year-old homeless man on suspicion of stabbing three teenagers.
The condition of those injured and motive of the attacker is currently unclear.
Dutch police say it is too early to say whether a terror motive was to blame for the attack.
After London, we have now have a stabbing in The Hague, the Netherlands. #LondonBridge #DenHaag pic.twitter.com/lioJJN9Mfx
— Jelle Simons (@jelle_simons) November 29, 2019
AUSTRALIA RESPONDS
Prime Minister Scott Morrison has described the knife attacks in London and The Hague as “despicable acts” but is “not aware” that Australians have been caught up in the stabbings.
“Just terrible news out of London and The Hague,” Mr Morrison said in a post on Facebook on Saturday.
“Whether it has been the despicable acts of terrorists in the UK, or as yet not determined in the Netherlands, Australians’ deepest sympathies are with the victims and their families - they were innocent people going about their lives.”
Labor frontbencher Kristina Keneally also offered her condolences, saying it was a “terrible tragedy”.
“I would also like to acknowledge the bravery and the selflessness of the police, as well as members of the public, who acted with courage to ensure that this attack was not more serious than it already is,” she told reporters in Sydney.
Senator Keneally, Labor’s home affairs spokeswoman, said it was a “tragic and timely reminder” of the collective threats facing Australians coming into the holiday season and that people needed to be alert to what is going on around them.
Originally published as First victim of London Bridge terror attacker identified as shocking connection comes to light