In less than a minute, shouting the words Allahu Akbar, he killed all three men...
COURT TOLD LIBYAN MURDERER WAS ‘RUTHLESSLY EFFICIENT’
A “ruthlessly efficient” terrorist stabbed three people to death and injured three more in a Reading park in less than a minute, a court has heard.
Khairi Saadallah, 26, shouted “Allahu Akbar” during the violent spree on June 20 last year.
Saadallah, of Reading, has pleaded guilty to three murders and three attempted murders and appeared at the Old Bailey on Tuesday for the start of his sentencing.
Violent
Prosecutor Alison Morgan QC said the defendant, originally from Tripoli in Libya, aimed to kill as many people as possible in the name of violent jihad.
He launched the attacks in Forbury Gardens, Reading, as numerous people – including the victims – were enjoying the summer evening as the first lockdown restrictions in
England had been relaxed.
History teacher James Furlong, 36, scientist David Wails, 49, and US citizen Joseph Ritchie-Bennett, 39, were fatally stabbed.
Their friend Stephen Young, along with Patrick Edwards and Nishit Nisudan, who were sitting in a nearby group, were injured.
Opening the facts of the case, Ms Morgan said: “In less than a minute, shouting Allahu Akbar, the defendant carried out a lethal attack with a knife, killing all three men before they had a chance to respond and try to defend themselves.
“Within the same minute, the defendant went on to attack others nearby, stabbing three more people – Stephen Young, Patrick Edwards and Nishit Nisudan – causing them significant injuries.
“The defendant was ruthlessly efficient in his actions. The prosecution’s case is that the attack perpetrated by the defendant was carefully planned and executed with determination and precision.
“The defendant believed that in carrying out this attack he was acting in pursuit of his extreme ideology, an ideology he appears to have held for some time.
“He believed that in killing as many people as possible that day he was performing an act of religious jihad.”
Ms Morgan said the attack was so serious it called for a ‘whole life tariff’ – meaning
Saadallah must serve his whole sentence without any chance of parole.
Saadallah arrived in the UK as an asylum seeker in 2012, having fled the civil war in Libya, north Africa.
The sentencing before Mr Justice Sweeney is expected to go on for two to three days.