London Bridge: MI5’s deadly error
They missed key clues by halting probe – coroner
SECURITY chiefs missed out on key intelligence weeks before the London Bridge attack by suspending their investigation into the plot’s ringleader, the chief coroner ruled yesterday.
MI5 agents had Khuram Butt under surveillance for two years before he and two other fanatics killed eight people and injured 48 others on June 3, 2017.
They knew Butt was a close associate of convicted hate preacher Anjem Choudary and had downloaded a vast amount of Islamic State videos.
But weeks before the atrocity, the probe was downgraded and Butt’s risk level was reduced to ‘maybe a threat’.
The investigation into Butt, 27, was suspended for six weeks and only reopened four weeks before the atrocity. By then, Butt and his accomplices Rachid Redouane, 30, and Youssef Zaghba, 22, were in the advance stages of terror planning.
The lack of close surveillance by agents allowed them to use a van to plough through pedestrians on the bridge before going on a knife rampage. They were shot dead by police.
In a 46-page report into the attack, Judge Mark Lucraft, QC, found that the suspension of a priority investigation such as this one is a ‘matter of legitimate public concern’.
The coroner, who presided over the six-week inquest into the victims’ deaths, said: ‘It is possible that, but for that suspension, further useful intelligence about Butt would have been obtained, including more information about his links to the other attackers.’
He said the bereaved families had expressed concern over why such a ‘relatively high priority investigation could be suspended twice for significant periods’. The first suspension took place between February and March 2016.
The coroner lists 18 recomextremist mendations that the emergency services and other government agencies are urged to adopt.
Judge Lucraft also called on the Government to introduce laws making it easier for police to make arrests for possession of terrorist propaganda. The coroner said current legislation means it may be impossible for police or MI5 to act against fanatics even when ‘the material is of the most offensive and shocking character’.
The security services became aware in 2016 that Butt had accessed a large collection of material but did not prosecute him.
Judge Lucraft concluded: ‘The evidence at the inquests indicates to me that the lack of such an offence may sometimes prevent counter terrorism police taking disruptive action which could be valuable in their work of combatting terrorism.’
Lawyer Helen Boniface, who represents six families, said: ‘The police response on the night by many was commendable, but failings and delays were also seen and the coroner identifies this through his report.’