VAN SLAM MAN ‘ CURSED ISLAM’
A FATHER- of- four from Wales accused of carrying out a terror attack on a group of Muslims outside a mosque in London allegedly shouted “this is for London Bridge” afterwards.
Darren Osborne, from Cardiff, is also accused of making offensive racial slurs in the days leading up to his rampage.
The 47- year- old, who was not known to police, was being held after his arrest for the “commission, preparation or instigation of terrorism and attempted murder”.
He is accused of driving a rented white van on to a footpath and running down a group of worshippers on the Seven Sisters Rd in north London on Monday, after they had stopped to help an elderly man who had collapsed on the street after prayers at the Finsbury Park Mosque. The elderly man was pronounced dead at the scene, although it was not clear last night if his death was from natural causes or the van attack.
Ten others were injured, including eight who were taken to three hospitals.
Mr Osborne is alleged to have shouted “kill all Muslims” and “this is for London Bridge” — referring to the June 3 massacre in which eight people were killed — in the wake of the attack.
British media reported he had split from his partner, was unemployed and living in a tent in the weeks before he allegedly carried out the attack.
Regulars at his local pub, the Hollybush, in Cardiff, said he was kicked out the day before the attack for saying he would “do some damage” to Muslims.
“He got chucked out as he was so drunk. He was cursing Muslims and saying he would do some damage,” one said.
Police raided addresses in Cardiff, 160km from the scene of the attack, late yesterday.
In a statement released on behalf of his family, his nephew Ellis Osborne, 26, said: “We are massively shocked; it’s unbelievable, it still hasn’t really sunk in. We are devastated for the families, our hearts go out to the people who have been injured.”
Mr Osborne said his uncle was “not a racist” and said he had never expressed any racist views. “It’s madness. It is obviously sheer madness,” he said.
Mr Osborne’s sister, Nicola, told the Press Association from her home in Weston- superMare, in Somerset, southwest England, that she was “very sorry for what’s happened”.
His mother, Christine Osborne, 72, who said she saw him a month ago, described him in a short television interview as a “complex” person, but said: “That’s all I can say. It’s a terrible, terrible shock.”
British media reported up until recent weeks he had been living with his partner Sarah Andrews, 42, despite the fact they had separated.