Reading attack suspect had been on MI5 list
The attacker arrested on suspicion of murdering three people in Reading was on MI5’S radar last year after he claimed to have ‘‘fought for and against Islamic State’’, The Times has learnt.
Khairi Saadallah, a Libyan asylum seeker suspected of a random knife attack in a park in the city centre, 60 kilometres west of London, came to the attention of the security services when they received intelligence that he aspired to travel to Syria.
Saadallah, 25, had made erratic claims, including that he had fought for and against Isis. His comments were assessed by other officials as being linked to mental health problems.
Counterterrorism detectives are investigating after Saadallah allegedly went on a rampage through Forbury Gardens shortly before 7pm on Saturday, local time, using a large knife to slash and kill three people and injure another three.
He was arrested within five minutes on suspicion of murder but was re-arrested Sunday under Section 41 of the Terrorism Act.
Security sources said that MI5, the domestic security service, was given intelligence last year on Saadallah, suggesting that he had an aspiration to travel abroad, potentially for terrorism. The security service examined the information, but it was not considered credible and no threat was determined.
Officials outside MI5 assessed that he did not subscribe to an ideology and did not have a belief system, although he suffered from mental health issues.
Saadallah lived two kilometre from the attack scene. Neighbours said that he smoked cannabis and chatted about liking whisky.
He allegedly targeted a group of men drinking in the evening sunshine in Forbury Gardens. James Furlong, 36, a secondary school teacher, has been named as one of the victims. Holt School in Wokingham said he was ‘‘wonderfully talented and inspirational’’.
Furlong’s parents, Gary and Janet, described him as ‘‘a wonderful man’’, adding: ‘‘He was beautiful, intelligent, honest and fun, the best son, brother, uncle and partner you could wish for.’’
Lawrence Wort, 20, a personal trainer who said he was about 9 metres from the incident, said that a lone attacker shouted unintelligible words before trying to stab a group of about 10.
He said that the suspect ‘‘stabbed three of them, severely in the neck, and under the arms, and then turned and started running towards me, and we turned and started running’’.
Footage on social media showed victims on blood-soaked grass as medics administered CPR. All three were declared dead at the scene. The suspect fled down a shopping street covered in blood before a police officer single-handedly tackled him to the ground. – The Times