MI5 role before London Bridge attack ‘cause for concern’
An inquest into the London Bridge terror attack which claimed the lives of two Australian women has found failures in the UK’s security agency MI5.
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More than two years after Australians Sara Zelenak and Kirsty Boden were killed in the London Bridge terror attack, a chief coroner has said more will die unless authorities improve how would-be terrorists are investigated.
Brisbane woman Ms Zelenak, 21, and Ms Boden, a 28-year-old nurse from South Australia’s Riverland, were stabbed to death on June 3, 2017 by terrorist trio Khuram Butt, 27, Rachid Redouane, 30, and Youssef Zaghba, 22.
A total of eight people were killed and a further 48 were injured in the attack.
Less than 10 minutes after it began, the terrorists were fatally shot by police.
Chief coroner Mark Lucraft, QC – who presided over a marathon two-month inquest into the attack earlier this year – released an Action to Prevent Future Deaths Report tonight, in which he said: “there is a risk that future deaths could occur unless action is taken”
His recommendations included making it easier to install safety barriers on bridges, increasing communication between investigation departments and training police officers in advanced first aid.
The attack started at 10.07pm when the jihadis crashed a rental van above London’s Borough Market.
Minutes earlier they had mowed down pedestrians on London Bridge, killing French national Xavier Thomas, 45, who was pushed into the River Thames and Canadian Christine Archibald, 30, who was dragged under the vehicle.
Safety barriers hadn’t been installed on the bridge to separate pedestrians and vehicles despite a similar attack occurring months earlier on Westminster Bridge.
Chaos quickly erupted in the trendy dining precinct, with waves of people scrambling to flee Butt, Redouane and Zaghba who were wearing fake suicide vests and armed with knives taped to their wrists.
The confusion of the attack was matched by that of emergency services with police officers’ calls for help from paramedics going unanswered.
During the inquest in London’s Central Criminal Court, it was revealed ambulances and paramedics were deliberately held back until the scene was determined to be safe.
With a lack of advanced medical equipment, unarmed police officers worked frantically to help those injured.
Witnesses from the London Ambulance Service were grilled over the organisation’s response during the inquest, but in his report, Mr Lucraft said: “it is important to emphasise at the outset that the operation was generally well-managed”.
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“Many seriously injured people were provided with assistance and conveyed to hospital, receiving lifesaving care,” he said.
Since 2019, changes have been made to operating principles allowing first responders to enter dangerous areas, which Mr Lucraft said had addressed the issue.
He further recommended police officers be trained in advanced first aid.
Two phone calls were made to police over concerns about Butt – one was anonymous and one was from his brother-in-law – but neither were passed onto MI5.
Mr Lucraft said while it was “debatable” how much further information could have been gleaned from these calls, it was a “cause for concern” and recommended authorities make improvements to their “information management”.
Butt was under investigation by MI5 on and off for two years before the attack and authorities found extremist material on his electronic devices during this time, but he wasn’t charged.
The report suggested “consideration should be given to legislating for further offences of possessing the most serious material which glorifies or encourages terrorism”.
Originally published as MI5 role before London Bridge attack ‘cause for concern’