‘Mosque attacker’s fury at BBC sex gang drama’
He ‘drove van into crowd’ after watching show on Muslim abuse scandal
A LONE-wolf terrorist enraged by a TV drama about the Rochdale sex abuse scandal aimed his speeding van at a group of Muslims and mowed ten of them down, a court was told.
Described as a ‘ticking time bomb’, suicidal alcoholic Darren Osborne, 48, is accused of killing one and leaving others with shocking injuries.
Asked by appalled bystanders why he’d done it, he said, ‘I want to kill more Muslims’, adding, ‘Kill me’.
The unemployed decorator allegedly developed an irrational hatred of Muslims and is said to have immersed himself in far-Right material on Facebook and Twitter after watching the BBC drama Three Girls, which was based on the true stories of victims of a Rochdale Pakistani Muslim sex-grooming gang.
He researched the ultra-nationalist group Britain First and followed Tommy Robinson, leader of the English Defence League, on Twitter, the court heard.
After the alleged attack at Finsbury Park mosque in north London, Osborne is claimed to have shouted: ‘I have done my bit.’
An angry crowd had to be talked out of attacking him by the imam, Woolwich Crown Court in southeast London heard.
Police discovered a handwritten letter in the hired van accusing ‘Ferrel [feral] inbred raping Muslim men’ of ‘hunting in packs’ and preying on children.
It went on: ‘ Islams ideology doesn’t belong here & neither does Sharia law... get back to the desert, you raping inbred b******s & climb back on ya camels.’
The letter also attacked Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, calling him ‘Jez’ and ‘mr terrorist sympathiser’, pop star Lily Allen, and comments by London mayor Sadiq Khan, whom he called ‘a disgrace’ on how being prepared for terrorism had become part of living in a major city.
The alleged attack came two weeks after three Islamist terrorists armed with knives ran amok at London Bridge.
In the letter, Osborne wrote: ‘Why are their terrorists on our streets today?’
He ended the misspelled rant: ‘Well Folkes gotta go busy day today. Remember peaceful vigils only & please dont look back in anger, God Save the Queen.’
Osborne, who denies murder and attempted murder, hired the Luton van on Saturday, June 17, last year before drinking half a bottle of vodka at his home in Pentwyn, Cardiff.
He then went to a local pub to compose a letter to ‘Theresa May and Parliament’.
Asking staff for a pen and paper, he wrote the letter police later found in the van. He was eventually thrown out after allegedly saying ‘all Muslims are terrorists’ and telling a soldier: ‘All your family will be Muslims soon.’
When he was challenged, he is said to have replied: ‘I’m going to kill all the Muslims. I am going to take it into my own hands.’
The next morning he drove the van to London to target a march organised by the Islamic Human Rights Commission, but was thwarted by road closures.
Instead, he drove around London, arriving at Finsbury Park just before 11.30pm after asking residents for its exact location.
He is alleged to have run over Makram Ali, 51, who had a heart condition and was already lying on the ground having collapsed just after Ramadan prayers.
Worshippers tending to Mr Ali were also struck after the van allegedly accelerated hard and swung off the road into them before crashing into bollards.
Mr Ali was left with a tyre mark across his chest and died from horrific injuries.
Others who were lucky to survive included Ibrahim Benaounda, 23, whose ribs, spine and pelvis were broken, while worshipper Hamdi Alfaiq, 38, had to be dragged from under the van.
Adnan Mohamud, 28, said Osborne was smiling as he told him: ‘I’ve done my job, you can kill me now.’
Osborne was arrested when onlookers flagged down a police car, and is said to have told officers: ‘Our great-great-grandchildren won’t stand a chance, someone has to rise up.
‘Every Tom, Dick and Harry over here... well, a few off tonight, a few less.’
Opening the case yesterday, Jonathan Rees QC, prosecuting, accused Osborne of ‘trying to kill as many of the group as possible’.
He said the attack was ‘an act of
‘I’m going to kill all the Muslims’ ‘An act of terrorism’
terrorism’ which was designed to ‘influence Government and intimidate the Muslim community’, adding: ‘To seek to kill someone merely because of their religion is a terrible thing.’
The court heard that Osborne, who had not worked for ten years, had anxiety, had been prescribed anti-depressants, and had threatened to kill himself twice in the previous two weeks.
Osborne refused to comment in police interviews, but his wife, Sarah Andrews, said he appeared to have become brainwashed as he scoured social media for antiMuslim videos.
In a statement, she said Osborne told her, ‘You will flourish without me’, and suspected he might kill himself, but she never thought he would attack others.
She told police: ‘He was saying he is weak and doesn’t want to be here any more... and that his time is up on this planet.’
The trial, which is expected to last for two weeks, continues.