Prison’s chief: Killer terrorist was thought to be controllable
FISHMONGERS’ Hall double killer Usman Khan was considered “controllable” before joining a prisoner education programme, a jail governor said yesterday.
Khan, 28, was freed from prison in December 2018, but 11 months later killed two rehabilitators at one of the scheme’s events.
Will Styles, who was governor of HMP Whitemoor in Cambridgeshire, told an inquest into the deaths that he had weighed up the risks and allowed Khan to sign up for the Learning Together programme.
Mr Styles said: “I thought the risks presented were controllable. I thought it was a positive opportunity for Usman and for us.
“The concern was he was a terror offender. Consideration was given to risk, opportunity, benefit.
“Some of the coursework involved ethics and there was discussion whether someone with a history of extremist ideology would be able to participate respectfully in a discussion about ethics.” Intelligence had suggested Khan was trying to radicalise fellow inmates and was linked to gang-related violence behind bars, the inquest heard.
Khan served eight years for plotting to set up a terror training camp. But his behaviour improved during the final 12 months, the hearing was told.
He would even go on to be considered a “success story” for Learning Together, it was said.
Armed with two kitchen knives, Khan stabbed to death Cambridge graduates Jack Merritt, 25, and Saskia Jones, 23, at a Learning Together celebration event at Fishmongers’ Hall by London Bridge in November 2019.
Several people from the hall chased him on to the nearby bridge, where he was shot dead by police.
The inquest, at the City of London’s Guildhall, continues.