NO ONE TOUCH HIM PAGES 2&3
Some wanted revenge for van carnage but hero imam stopped them
THE terrorist who rammed a van into a crowd of Muslim worshippers yesterday had his life saved by a Muslim imam.
As an angry crowd began beating suspect Darren Osborne, Mohammed Mahmoud stood over him and shouted: “Do not touch him!”
Mohammed said: “By God’s grace we managed to surround him and protect him from any harm.”
Osborne was reportedly shouting: “I’m going to kill all Muslims!” and “I’ve done my bit!” He was filmed smirking, waving and blowing kisses as police took him away.
Mohammed was praised for his humanity in a scene of carnage, as the broken bodies of victims lay in the street outside the Muslim Welfare Centre in London’s Finsbury Park.
One man later died but he had reportedly fallen ill beforehand. Police were investigating whether his death was linked to the attack.
Nine people were taken to three hospitals in London and two people were treated at the scene.
All the victims were Muslim. They were reportedly gathered around the man who was ill, trying to help, when the van rammed them.
It was just after midnight, but the street was busy with worshippers leaving Ramadan prayers at the welfare centre and nearby Finsbury Park Mosque.
Reports said the hired van was doing about 50mph as it hurtled along Seven Sisters road before ploughing into the worshippers.
Witness Adil Rana, 24, said: “The van was driving towards us to try and hit us at speed and everyone was shocked and people were screaming. There were people on the floor.”
Abdulrahman Saleh Alamoudi added: “This big van just came and went all over us. Then the guy came out of his van and I got him.
“He was screaming. He was saying, ‘I’m going to kill all Muslims! He was throwing punches. We managed to get him on the floor.”
Adil added: “He was pinned on the floor and people were punching him and beating him. Then the imam came out and said, ‘Don’t hit him. Hand him over to the police.’” Mohammed said he flagged down a police van. He recalled: “We said, there’s a mob attempting to hurt him. If you don’t take him, God forbid he might be seriously hurt. “We pushed people away from him until he was safely in custody. That’s all that we did. It wasn’t me alone, there were a group of brothers.” Finsbury Park Mosque was previously known for its links to hate preacher Abu Hamza and shoe bomber Richard Reid. But it has been under different leadership for several years and has been widely praised for its positive role in the community.
The van attack was the fourth act of terrorism in Britain in four months, after the outrages at Westminster Bridge, the Manchester Arena and London Bridge. Vehicles were used as weapons in three of the atrocities.
And it came almost exactly a year after Hitler-loving racist Thomas Mair murdered Labour MP Jo Cox.
Osborne, 47, was arrested on suspicion of attempted murder, then rearrested on suspicion of preparing or instigating terrorism, including