Strike by Streatham attacker case of ‘when, not if’ after release

An inquest has heard how police predicted that convicted terrorist Sudesh Amman would attack the public when he was released from prison, less than a month before his attack.

MI5 and police officers discussing intelligence about Amman said an attack would be a case of ‘when, not if’, two weeks before he was released from Belmarsh prison for terror offences in early January 2020. He had been jailed in May 2018 for terrorism offences, but he was released halfway through his sentence, despite police trying to block the 20-year-old’s release, because of intelligence that he wanted to stage an attack.

A report by the Metropolitan police’s Terrorism Offender Management Unit, a fortnight before Amman’s release concluded he was one of ‘the most dangerous individuals we have investigated’.

Amman stabbed two people on Streatham High Road, south London, on 2 February before being shot by police who had been following him for surveillance.

Police had considered arresting him after he was seen buying items from Poundland, which he fashioned into a fake suicide vest, but after a meeting with MI5 decided there was insufficient grounds for arrest.

This week the coroner, Mr Justice Hilliard, heard that intelligence services had concerns about Amman’s behaviour in prison, specifically his allegiance to the Islamic State, his apparent desire to radicalise others and his reluctance to engage with the authorities.