Updates given in Fishmongers’ Hall attack inquest

An inquest into the November 2019 Fishmongers’ Hall terrorist attack has heard how Usman Khan launched his attack at the prison rehabilitation event after one of his victims chanced upon him making preparations in the toilets.

According to DCI Dan Brown, who led the investigation into the attack, Khan listened to talks and attended a workshop from Cambridge University’s Learning Together rehabilitation programme before going to the men’s toilets, where he made his final preparations for the attack.

It is believed that the 28-year-old, who had been jailed in 2010 over a jihadist terror attack plot but was released in December 2018 under licence conditions, taped two 8-inch kitchen knives to his hands and left a third in the toilet cubicle.

DCI Brown said that investigators believe the terrorist made a fake but ‘authentic-looking’ suicide belt, including Xbox components, at his Stafford home and concealed it under an oversized coat before the attack. Investigators also believe that Jack Merritt, a Learning Together course coordinator, entered the men’s toilets by chance shortly before 2pm as Khan was making his final preparations.

The police say that blood analysis shows Merritt was attacked by Khan as he was leaving the toilet cubicle. The 25-year-old sustained 12 injuries, including a fatal wound to the chest.

Merritt was one of two victims of the attack, the other being 23-year-old Saskia Jones, who Brown said has entered the venue’s cloakroom to leave her coat as Khan came out from the toilets. The Learning Together volunteer was fatally stabbed in the neck.

The hearing, being held at London’s Guildhall instead of the Old Bailey to enable social distancing, was told that Khan had met both victims before the attack.

Merritt knew Khan because he had taken part in Learning Together courses while in prison, and had exchanged communications with him in a professional capacity. Jones met Khan when they were seated on the same table at the start of the event, and jurors were shown footage showing them talking for several minutes.

Video footage of bystanders fighting Unman Khan using makeshift weapons, including a narwhal tusk and fire extinguisher, has also been played at an inquest. CCTV footage played to the inquest showed Khan being pursued by Steven Gallant, a convicted murderer who was on day release at the time.