Reading stabbing attack: Cops ‘stopped’ UK terror suspect day before attack
British police reportedly spoke to the Libyan refugee accused of stabbing three men to death in an English park just 24 hours before his shocking rampage, as families of the victims reveal their heartbreak. Warning: Graphic content
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Police stopped the Reading terror suspect in the street and walked him back to his flat the day before the attack, it has been reported.
Khairi Saadallah was nowhere to be found on Friday evening when officials reportedly went to his home to perform a routine check, reports The Sun.
A specialist mental health team were asked to look for the 25-year-old, according to reports.
He was reportedly found just before midnight on a street in Reading and taken back to his council flat.
Sources told British media outlets that several police and psychiatric nurses – known as a “street triage” team that is run by Thames Valley Police and the NHS – found Saadallah after an alert was raised.
His mother told The Telegraph in the UK her son should have been admitted to a mental health unit.
His cousin translated for her from Tripoli, Libya and said: “She is saying: ‘He is on medication. His mental health has deteriorated since Ramadan. He couldn’t sleep, he had nightmares. He had asked me to pray for him.’
“She said: ‘Why was he out on the streets and not in a mental health centre?’”
His sister who did not want to be named told Sky News: “I’m deeply sorry for the families, the victims, everything you know.
“And I’m really sorry for Khairi too who has suffered for all this.”
Saadallah was involved in the government’s Prevent deradicalisation program when he was given asylum in 2018, The Times has reported.
He was assessed by mentors in the anti-extremism scheme, but Prevent officials did not consider him to be a terror threat, sources told The Times.
It comes as British counter-terrorism police have been given until June 27 to question the man, officers said.
“Detectives were … granted a warrant of further detention until Saturday June 27, and the man remains in police custody,” Counter Terrorism Policing South East (CTPSE) said in a statement.
Saturday’s attack left Joe Ritchie-Bennett, 39, James Furlong 36, and David Wails dead.
Three others who were injured in the stabbing in Forbury Gardens in Reading, 60kms west of London, were discharged from hospital on Monday.
Saadallah, originally from Libya, is accused of randomly knifing strangers in a bloodbath at the town’s Forbury Gardens at about 6.45pm (3.45am AEST) on Saturday.
FAMILIES PAY TRIBUTE TO VICTIMS
It comes as the families of the three victims of a stabbing rampage in an English park paid tribute to their loved ones on Tuesday (local time), saying how their hearts have been broken at losing them in what is being treated as a terror attack.
Police named the dead as teacher James Furlong, 36; scientist David Wails, 49; and pharmaceutical worker Joseph Ritchie-Bennett, 39. The three friends were enjoying a warm Saturday evening when they were attacked at Forbury Gardens park in Reading, a town of 200,000 people.
Martin Cooper, the head of LGBT organisation Reading Pride, sad the victims were “true gentlemen” and stalwart supporters of he community.
In statements released by police, the men’s families each offered a reckoning of their grief.
Wails’ parents described him as a much-loved son, brother and uncle who never hurt anyone in his life.
“We are broken-hearted at losing him and in such a terrible way,” they said. “We will treasure our wonderful memories of him and he will always be with us in our hearts.”
Furlong’s parents said “James was a wonderful man. He was beautiful, intelligent, honest and fun.”
“He was the best son, brother, uncle and partner you could wish for. We are thankful for the memories he gave us all,” they said.
“We will never forget him and he will live in our hearts forever.”
The tributes came just a day after people in Reading gathered for a moment of silence. More than 100 students lit candles and laid flowers in memory of Furlong, a history teacher in the nearby town of Wokingham.
The family of Ritchie-Bennett, who was originally from Philadelphia, also expressed their sadness.
“I was absolutely blessed and proud to be Joe’s father for 39 years and we are heartbroken by what has happened,” his father said.
Lifelong friend Danielle Gayda said Ritchie-Bennett lit up any room he entered and was “unapologetically himself.”
“He came in the room and everybody was like, ‘Oh, it’s Joe Ritchie. Joe Ritchie’s here.’ Everybody was always excited to see him,” said Gayda, who grew up with him in Philadelphia.
She said Ritchie-Bennett came from a family of city police officers, but followed his own path, first to Canada, where he studied for a time, and later to England, where he married Ian Bennett of Reading in about 2006. His husband died of cancer in 2014, but Ritchie-Bennett stayed in Reading and remained close to his in-laws there.
“Joe was with him through everything,” Gayda said. “We all thought that Ian was taken from us much too soon. They had a lot left to their story. And now with Joe being gone, they’re together again, but we’re just very sad that both of them are not here with us.”
Woody Johnson, the US ambassador to the UK, confirmed an American was among those killed in the attack.
“I offer my deepest condolences to the families of those killed in the attack on June 20,” he said.
“To our great sorrow, this includes an American citizen. Our thoughts are with all those affected.
“We condemn the attack absolutely and have offered our assistance to British law enforcement.”
Students have placed flowers at The Holt School in Wokingham, near Reading, where Mr Furlong worked.
The pair were understood to be friends and were believed to have been drinking in the park together.
Parks across the UK have been busy as it is the only place to catch up with friends under lockdown conditions that have kept pubs closed.
Police have not identified the suspect, but media outlets named the alleged attacker as Khairi Saadallah, a Libyan asylum-seeker living in Reading.
Three other people were wounded in the attack. They have all been released from hospitals.
SUSPECT HAD ONLY JUST BEEN RELEASED FROM JAIL
Violent drug dealer Khairi Saadallah had only been released from jail 16 days before the bloody attack.
Saadallah, 25, had come to MI5’s attention for his bid to travel to join Islamic extremists, but was not being closely monitored.
He was released from HMP Bullingdon, Oxfordshire after serving just half his sentence for non-terror convictions this month.
Saadallah was a Libyan asylum seeker who had moved to the UK in 2012 claiming that he was at risk from Islamic extremists there.
He said he converted to Christianity and had a tattoo of a cross on his arm but was later believed to have been radicalised online through Islamic extremist propaganda.
Mental health was also being considered as a motivation for the attack, a security source claimed.
Saadallah was on MI5’s long list of 40,000 terror suspects and was believed to have been radicalised online, with no evidence so far of any other people involved in planning the attack.
Security sources claimed that Saadallah’s desire to travel to Syria was not deemed credible by MI5 and there was nothing to suggest he warranted closer investigation, The Times reported.
“Saadallah was on MI5’s radar for a few months last year over his aspirations to travel to Syria,” a source told The Sun.
“He had a history of violence and serious mental health problems so why was he granted leave to remain at all? There are major questions to be answered.”
A cousin in Libya said he was shocked Saadallah had been linked to terrorism.
“He was at risk of extremists in Libya because he liked to drink and socialise and didn’t lead a strict religious life at all,” the cousin said.
Kieran Vernon, 26, of Reading said Saadallah sold him marijuana four times a week.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson held an emergency meeting about the attack.
UK STABBINGS TERROR SUSPECT ‘HAS BEEN IN JAIL FOR VIOLENT CRIMES’
The man suspected of killing three people in a terror attack in Reading in the UK had previous convictions for violence-related offences, it has emerged.
Khairi Saadallah, 25, originally from Libya, is accused of carrying out a random knife attack in Forbury Gardens in the town’s centre.
Saadallah is reported to have been granted asylum after arriving in the UK a number of years ago, according to The Sun.
He has at least one previous conviction for a “minor violent offence”, Sky News reported, and he is thought to have spent at least 12 months in jail.
He was being supervised by the National Probation Service, the Guardian reported, and court reports suggest a number of additional convictions for a man of the same name, age, and address.
None of the suspect’s previous convictions are believed to be terror-related.
In August last year, the man appeared at Westminster Magistrates’ Court after allegedly assaulting a judge at Reading Magistrates’ Court while being sentenced for two previous convictions, the Press and Journal reported.
In April last year, a man of the same name and age was imprisoned for two months for a common assault on an emergency worker and fined $A250 for possession of a blade, the Reading Chronicle reported.
A neighbour, who gave his named only as Adam, said that Saadallah had been “in and out of prison”.
“A few months ago he threw his TV off the balcony and started smashing up his flat,” he said.
“Police were called and he was recalled to prison. He only got out about three weeks ago.”
TERRORIST ATTACK, SAY POLICE
British police have declared the stabbing deaths of three people in a park in Reading as a terrorist attack.
The confirmation came through on Sunday night Australian time, after police initially kept an open mind about the motive for the incident.
Distressing mobile phone footage showed police desperately trying to resuscitate some of the victims, who had been enjoying an evening in the park in the centre of town before the horror unfolded.
There were counter-terrorism police on the scene monitoring road blocks around the park last night, as three more victims remain in critical care in hospital.
“Counter Terrorism Policing can now confirm that the stabbing incident that happened in Reading, has now been declared a terrorist incident,” Thames Valley Police said in a statement.
“Officers from Counter Terrorism Policing South East (CTPSE) have been working closely with Thames Valley Police’s Major Crime Department throughout the night.”
The terror attack was the second in the UK this year, with counter-terror police shooting dead a suspect in Streatham, south London, in February.
And Usman Khan shocked the world when he killed Jack Merrit, 25, and Saskia Jones, 23 in a terror attack at London Bridge in November last year, with heroes stopping him with a Narwhal tusk before he was shot dead by police.
#Readingstabbing
— KOIKIMEDIA (@KoikiMedia) June 21, 2020
WATCH: Police arrest suspected #Readingattack attacker after 'multiple' injured in park attack. More follows. pic.twitter.com/P9IhXglDwF
Personal trainer Lawrence Wort, 20, who said he was around 10 metres from the attack, said there were distressing scenes.
“The park was pretty full, a lot of people sat around drinking with friends, when one lone person walked through, suddenly shouted some unintelligible words and went around a large group of around 10, trying to stab them,” he said.
“He stabbed three of them, severely in the neck, and under the arms, and then turned and started running towards me, and we turned and started running.
“When he realised that he couldn’t catch us, he tried to stab another group sat down, he got one person in the back of the neck and then when he realised everyone was starting to run, he ran out the park.”
Earlier, police believed they had no evidence to believe the attack was terror-related.
Detective Chief Superintendent Ian Hunter, Head of Crime, said: “The Thames Valley Police Major Crime Unit has launched a murder investigation following this incident.
“We have made one arrest and at this stage we are not looking for any other people in connection with this incident. There is no intelligence to suggest that there is any further danger to the public, however we urge people to remain vigilant and report anything suspicious by calling police.”
Police were searching an address in Reading early on Sunday morning Australian time, which was believed to be linked to the attacker.
At least two air ambulances scrambled to the attack, along with a heavy police presence, with some officers desperately trying to resuscitate victims.
The attack happened at 7pm local time (4am Australian time) where people were gathering in a park, which is one of the few sanctioned activities in the UK lockdown.
The incident came after a Black Lives Matter protest in Reading earlier on Saturday local time.
Thames Valley Police ruled out a link between the protest and the incident.
“There is no indication that this incident is linked to the Black Lives Matter protest that took place in Reading today,” a statement said.
Nieema Hassan, an organiser of the Reading protest, posted on Facebook that demonstrators had dispersed by the time of the attack.
“In terms of the protest and people that attended from Black Lives Matter, we’re all safe, none of us are affected,” she said.
“I have goosebumps knowing that this has happened only a few hours after we all peacefully came together today to talk about change and equality and it’s pretty heartbreaking that this day has been tarnished with violence.”
Two air ambulances and several police vehicles responded to the attack, with images on social media showing a significant police presence.