Jailed for van attack
AN UNEMPLOYED “loner” who drove a van into a group of Muslims, killing 51-year-old Makram Ali, will serve a minimum of 43 years in prison.
Darren Osborne, 48, was sentenced to life imprisonment after he deliberately mowed down worshippers outside two mosques in Finsbury Park on June 19 last year, killing one and injuring 12 others.
Osborne, who denied charges of murder and attempted murder , was sentenced to a minimum 43-year term at Woolwich Crown Court on Friday February 2.
A jury of eight women and four men took one hour to convict the father-offour, who was seen smiling and blowing a kiss to angry bystanders in the moments after the attack.
During the trial, Osborne, of Glyn Rhosyn in Cardiff, suddenly denied he had been driving the van at the moment of impact, an 11th hour defence the prosecution dismissed as being conjured “out of thin air”.
The attacker said he had no idea Dave – one of his two made-up accomplices – intended to smash into a group of pedestrians, and believed they were en route to a pub to meet a third coconspirator, Terry.
The jurors agreed with prosecutors, who dubbed his increasingly improbable version of events a “total fabrication” and “frankly absurd”.
During his nine-day trial, Osborne told the court he had wanted to kill senior Labour figures, including leader Jeremy Corbyn and London Mayor Sadiq Khan.
He had also plotted to murder Rochdale Labour councillor Aftab Hussain but called it off because he wanted “more casualties”.
A note written by Osborne – which complained about terrorism, the Rotherham child sex scandal, and branded Mr Corbyn a “terrorist sympathiser” Darren Osborne
– was found in the cab of the van.
Osborne, described in court as a “total loner”, had become obsessed with Muslims after watching BBC drama Three Girls in May last year.
He was angered by what he deemed as inaction following a string of UK terror attacks, his estranged partner Sarah Andrews told the court.
Ahead of his sentencing, Woolwich Crown Court heard of the devastating impact Osborne’s attack left in his wake, through the eyes of the daughter of Mr Ali.
In a statement read to the court, one of Mr Ali’s six children, Ruzina Akhtar, said the image of her dead father would always stay with her.
She said: “My heart was shattered when I saw my father lying in the morgue.”
Her mother now fears being targeted again because of her religion, the court heard.
She continued: “My mum is scared to go out by herself in case she is attacked because she is visibly a Muslim who wears a headscarf.”
Mr Ali’s two sons are 13 and 14 years old, the court heard.
“They will now grow up without the help and support of their father,” Ms Akhtar said.
“Without his guidance and assistance in life.”
She said her father will ‘never be forgotten’ adding: “His laugh will echo the walls of our home and his smile will be reflected in our eyes,” she said.
He “lived without any enemies” and never hurt or upset anyone, she added: “His life was taken in a cruel way by a very narrow-minded, heartless being.”
Prosecutor Jonathan Rees QC said Osborne’s victims had suffered “flashbacks, fear of going out on to the street” and had lost confidence since the attack.