{UAH} Family had reported London Bridge attacker to police, inquest hears

Anette Kobby/ WBK

 

Regarding the Isis Bride Shamima Begum's  legal defence, blaming the government for failing to prevent her from being radicalised and turned into a killer, I think they are alluding to a wider problem of the capacity of the security services to act on tips or information that has been passed to them about terrorist plans or threats. The security services can not keep an eye on all of the 3 million UK muslims and only target those considered very dangerous. But this has meant some dangerous terrorists have slipped through the net and succeeded in their mission of killing innocent civilians.

 

Read this story of the London Bridge attacker Kurham Butt who was reported to the security services several times by his own wife and family, yet they did not put him under immediate surveillance. To make it even worse, Kusram Butt managed to get a job at the London Underground Train Service despite appearing in an Isis video posted to social media the previous year. The London Underground is supposed to have very strong security vetting for all staff who apply to work there- the underground is the most sensitive  security target as it carries 2 million passengers per day, and is the number one target for terrorists. So how a terrorist managed to get a job in the London underground is one of the questions being asked of the security services. Fortunately, he turned out to be such a poor worker that he never passed his probation and was sacked.

 

Khuram Butt and the London Bridge attackers that he led  killed 8 innocent people and wounded several others. Yet 5 years before, in 2013,  I had also reported this same group to the security services after they threatened to kill me. They belonged to an Islamist group led by Hate Preacher Anjem Choudary called  Al-Muhajiroun (ALM) network. This is a radical terrorist muslim group responsible for all the suicide bombings in the UK. In 2013, two of its members, the Nigerian muslim converts Michael Adebowale and Michael Adebolajo beheaded soldier Lee Rigby outside Woolwich Barracks in South London. This was right infront of my home, where I used to live. There was widespread anger in the African communities after the beheading of the soldier and at public meetings called by the authorities, I became their spokesman and strongly condemned Islam. I told the meetings  the African community in Woolwich hates no one- all they want is an opportunity to educate their children and better themselves. They dont want anything to do with Allah. These meetings were attended by Anjem Choudary's  Al-Muhajiroun (ALM) network. They attacked me calling me a " whiteman's slave" and threatened to kill me. I had to leave Woolwich and move outside London in fear for my life. But I reported them to the security services and I as everyone else was surprised that this same group, who beheaded a soldier, was allowed to murder 8 innocent people on London bridge despite all the evidence that they were terrorists and had threatened to kill me.

But to give the security services an excuse, they claim putting just one muslim suspect on a 24 hour terror watch list costs them £3 million per year- but their budget is being constanmtly cut by the government, so they have to target only those terrorists likely to pose the greatest. This means lone wolves, or those working on their own, are very difficult to catch because there is little intelligence held on them.

Bobby

Family had reported London Bridge attacker to police, inquest hears

Relatives of Khuram Butt were concerned about his extremist beliefs 18 months before attack

Vikram Dodd Police and crime correspondent

Tue 28 May 2019 17.31 BSTFirst published on Tue 28 May 2019 12.30 BST

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 Khuram Butt passed vetting for job on London Underground despite appearing on documentary about extremism, the inquest heard. Photograph: Metropolitan Police/PA

The family of one of the London Bridge attackers became so concerned about his extremism they reported him to police 18 months before the atrocity, an inquest has heard.

Khuram Butt and two other terrorists killed eight people on 3 June 2017, first driving a hired van into two pedestrians before stabbing another six people to death.

The inquest into the deaths heard from acting DCI Wayne Jolley of Scotland Yard's counter-terrorism command that Butt was an acolyte of the extremist preacher Anjem Choudary and was "energised" and like a "lion out of a cage" in his company. Choudary was jailed for encouraging support for Isis and is linked of scores of people who went on to carry out terrorist acts.

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Jolley said the police investigation had shown that Butt's views and religious adherence were unremarkable until about 2013. He had been described as a shy and earnest student who liked reggae music, smoked cannabis, supported Arsenal and whose sister once described him as a "party animal".

The inquest sitting at the Old Bailey in central London heard he started to become more orthodox, then extreme, before expressing support for Islamic State.

Jolley told the inquest that Butt's brother-in-law Usman Darr had to be physically separated from him in September 2015 after becoming enraged when Butt defended Isis for burning to death a captured Jordanian pilot, which was filmed and released as a propaganda video.

Jolley said Darr, a brother of Butt's wife, Zahrah, called the authorities. "He was extremely concerned about these views and he contacted the anti-terrorist hotline to report his brother-in-law."

The inquest heard Butt's wife rejected his request to take a second wife and his family and friends became increasingly concerned from 2013 onwards as he immersed himself in extremist material and watched beheading videos. In early 2015, he had wanted to go to Syria but was stopped by his family, who destroyed his passport.

Butt, 27, carried out the attack on London Bridge with Rachid Redouane, 30, and Youssef Zaghba, 22.

The inquest heard the attackers went to the Unmah fitness centre in east London and were regulars at swimming sessions. Butt and Zaghba also taught children as young as seven about the Qur'an at an Islamic primary school.

Butt, the ringleader of the attack, hired the van used in the attack for £70 and was given an extension by the hire company after he complained about their service.

In the run up to the attack, Butt was carrying out various frauds, the inquest heard, and also got a job on London Underground carrying out security checks despite appearing in The Jihadis Next Door, a Channel 4 television documentary about Islamist extremism.

Butt passed vetting for the London Underground job in May 2016 and his role included security duties at sensitive stations such as Westminster, said Jonathan Hough QC, counsel to the inquest.

Butt told a work colleague the terrorist murder of Lee Rigby in May 2013 was "an eye for an eye", the inquest heard.

Butt left the London Underground job after going off sick, claiming work-issue shoes caused him pain.

A key issue for the inquest will be examining whether police and the security service MI5 could and should have done more to spot the danger Butt posed. He faced a police counter-terrorism investigation from 2015 to 2017, but no charges followed, and he was under active investigation by MI5 at the time of the attack.

Zaghba, the inquest heard, was stopped in Italy more than a year before the attack when trying to fly via Turkey to join Isis and made an amazing admission.

Jolley said while waiting to board a flight at Bologna airport on 15 March 2016, to Istanbul, Zaghba was interviewed: "He was asked by a border officer: 'What are you going to do in Istanbul?' Zaghba replied: 'Be a terrorist.' He quickly corrected himself to say: 'Be a tourist.'"

Jolley confirmed Zaghba entered the UK and there was never any British inquiry into him. The inquest will later hear evidence about that omission.

The inquest also heard that a victim of the London Bridge attack was hit with such force by the van that plastic from the vehicle "melted" on impact.

Louissa Marsh, a forensic scientist, said Xavier Thomas, 45, was probably hit by the van and tossed into the River Thames as he walked across the bridge, while talking to his son on the phone.

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 Xavier Thomas, who was killed in the attack in June 2017. Photograph: Metropolitan Police/PA

An effect called "fibre plastic fusion" showed the white Renault van hired by the three terrorists struck the French national's blue denim jeans, she said. Plastic from the vehicle melted on impact then "resolidified", leaving small plastic deposits on the fibres of the jeans. Examination of the deposits showed they probably came from the headlights.

Marsh told the inquest: "In my opinion, [my findings] provide strong support for the proposition that the Renault van was in direct collision with Mr Thomas during the terrorist incident at London Bridge."

The toxicologist David Cowan said anabolic steroids taken by the three attackers were unlikely to have made them more aggressive. He said they were likely to have been taken no longer than a day before the incident.

Those who died in the attack, along with the perpetrators, were Sara Zelenak, 21, Alexandre Pigeard, 26, Christine Archibald, 30, James McMullan, 32, Kirsty Boden, 28, Sebastien Belanger, 36, Ignacio Echeverria, 39 as well as Thomas.

The inquest continues.

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