Schumacher film hints at his long fight

Police not told worried brother-in-law had called hotline

FIGHTER Schumacher BERNIE Ecclestone has hinted that Michael Schumacher’s recovery from his head injury still has a long way to go, saying “he’s not with us at the moment”.

The former Formula One boss made his remark in a documentary about the seven-time world champ, who hit his head on a rock after an off-piste skiing accident in 2013.

Ecclestone said of the racing legend: “He is not with us at this moment.”

But in a trailer for the film, called Schumacher, he added: “When he is better he will answer all the questions.”

Schumacher’s family are supporting the film, set to be released in December.

His father Rolf is expected to say in it: “Michael is a fighter and will not give up.” WITNESS M SENIOR COUNTER TERROR DETECTIVE IN CHARGE THREATS MI5’s London headquarters THE London Bridge mastermind’s brother-in-law called the antiterror hotline 18 months before the attack but his message was not passed on, the inquest heard.

The senior counter-terrorism detective in charge, known as Witness M, admitted the “failing” was “very unsatisfactory” yesterday at the Old Bailey hearing into the atrocity.

He said: “It denied us, really, the option of discussing that information with MI5, and how it fitted into the bigger picture, and denied us the option of what action to take subsequently to receiving that information.”

Khuram Butt, 27, and accomplices Rachid Redouane, 30, and Youssef Zaghba, 22, killed eight people and injured 48 others in a van and knife attack on June 3, 2017.

Usman Darr had reported Butt was increasingly extreme, distributing anti-Western propaganda and looking at jihadi websites in September 2015. A probe into Butt had been launched in mid-2015.

Witness M’s team and MI5 suspected him of attack planning, but they were not told about Mr Darr’s call or given his details.

Counsel to the inquest, Jonathan Hough QC, asked: “Would you accept that where you have the situation of a family member calling to express concerns about somebody who happens to be under investigation, it’s very unsatisfactory that the investigation team doesn’t hear of that report?” Witness M replied: “In short, yes.” He told Gareth Patterson QC, representing six of the bereaved families, the failing was caused by “human error” and a “supervision failure”.

Witness M also admitted that he was unaware Butt had appeared in Channel 4 documentary, The Jihadis Next Door, in January 2016, because it was reviewed by a “sister team”.

MI5 lowered the assessed risk of Butt becoming a lone actor terrorist from strong to moderate the month before the attack.

Xavier Thomas, 45, Christine Archibald, 30, Sara Zelenak, 21, Sebastien Belanger, 36, James McMullan, 32, Kirsty Boden, 28, Alexandre Pigeard, 26, and Ignacio Echeverria, 39, died in the attack.

The three terrorists were shot dead by armed police.

It denied us the opportunity of discussing that information with MI5 and how it fitted in