Finsbury Park suspect ‘wanted to kill Muslims’

A man accused of driving a van into a crowd of people near two mosques in Finsbury Park wanted to kill as many Muslims as possible, it has been found. Darren Osborne is accused of ploughing into a crowd of worshippers in north London last year, killing Makram Ali, 51, and injuring nine others. The 48-year-old targeted the crowd because they were Muslims, having grown angry at rising terrorism, Woolwich Crown Court were told. Osborne denies charges of murder and attempted murder. Opening the trial, prosecutor Jonathan Rees said Osborne had driven a Luton box van from Cardiff, where he lives, to London the day before the alleged attack. He then deliberately targeted crowds in Finsbury Park at about 00:15 BST on 19 June. The area was busy with worshippers attending Ramadan prayers at the time. Rees told the court the alleged attack was ‘particularly horrific’ because the group had gathered in the street to help Makram Ali, who had collapsed minutes earlier. Several of those who went to help Ali said he was ‘definitely alive’ and conscious in the moments before being struck. A handwritten note found in the van complained about terrorists on the streets and the Rotherham child exploitation scandal, Rees added. Rees said: “The underlying theme seems to be that the defendant felt that insufficient was being said or done to counter terrorism and the grooming gangs comprising predominantly Muslim males. "Against that background, the defendant decided to take matters into his own hands.” Although Osborne was not charged with a terrorist offence, Rees said ‘the note and the comments he made after his detention establish that this act of extreme violence was, indeed, an act of terrorism’. Prosecutors believe Osborne had been planning to target an Al Quds Day march on 18 June. Osborne is believed to have asked a black cab driver for directions to Grosvenor Square, where the marchers were going to be, the court heard. Instead, Osborne travelled to Forest Hill in south London at around 20:00, and asked where the nearest mosque was. He was told there were none in the area and travelled north, stopping to ask a motorist the directions to Finsbury Park. The driver allowed the defendant to follow him and he arrived in the Finsbury Park area at just before 23:30.