TERROR SUSPECT ‘THROWN OUT OF PUB FOR MUSLIM RANT’
ARRESTED DAD OF FOUR WAS FORCED TO LEAVE CARDIFF PUB FOR ‘RANTING AND RAVING’ ABOUT MUSLIMS A DAY BEFORE LONDON MOSQUE ATTACK, NEIGHBOURS CLAIM
A GROUP threw the Finsbury Park mosque terror suspect out of a Cardiff pub for “ranting and raving” about Muslims a day before he drove a van into worshippers, it was claimed yesterday.
At about 9pm on Saturday evening, terror suspect Darren Osborne was reportedly forced to leave the Hollybush Pub in Pentwyn after three friends confronted him about his antiMuslim outbursts.
Osborne, 47, has been named as the person arrested after a man drove a hire van into people near the north London mosque on Sunday night.
A Pontyclun Van Hire vehicle was used in the attack which injured 10 and left one man dead at the scene.
Osborne has been arrested on suspicion of “the commission, preparation or instigation of terrorism, including murder and attempted murder”.
He has been described as an “ordinary” family man who lived in a semi-detached house on a quiet estate in Glyn Rhosyn, Pentwyn, in east Cardiff, with his partner and four children.
But yesterday neighbours reported he had been living in a tent in woodland near his home.
Referring to Saturday night’s alleged incident in Cardiff, Hollybush regular Jack Norman, 20, said he was one of the group to confront Osborne and force him to leave.
Jack said: “Darren was just ranting and raving about terrorism.
“He was saying ‘all your family are going to be Muslim. Your grandchildren are going to be Muslim and live under Sharia law.’
“He was sat in the corner drinking and writing stuff down.”
Jack added: “We said it’s time for you [Darren Osborne] to leave.
“Then he downed his pint as he was walking out and left.”
Another pub regular Phil Henry said: “He was kicked out of here, the landlord said, for shouting about Islam. He was asked to leave quietly and he went.
“When he came in the landlord said he was on his own and started shouting.
“They said ‘We don’t want to hear that’ and he just left of his own accord.”
Mr Henry said the community was “absolutely shocked” and that it was a mixed community and he had never seen any trouble.
A few hours later, a neighbour on Mr Osborne’s Pentwyn estate in Cardiff said he saw a man, who smelt of drink, sleeping in a Pontyclun Van Hire vehicle.
Edward Gardiner, 28, a selfemployed builder and plumber, called police at 12.27am on Sunday to report his concerns.
The man was sleeping across the front three seats of the van with the door open, close to Osborne’s home.
“I called police because I saw a random van in my cul-de-sac with someone drunk in it and the door open,” Mr Gardiner, who lives in a nearby property, said.
“I could smell alcohol on him and he was grunting and groaning. I poked him but he didn’t respond so I called 101.
“It was a Pontyclun Van Hire van. They said they would sort it out. They didn’t give me a crime reference number, I don’t know if they came out.”
A spokesman for South Wales Police said: “At 12.27am on Sunday, June 18, South Wales Police responded to a call made to the non-emergency 101 number following a report of an insecure van parked on a street in the Llanedeyrn area of Cardiff.
“Officers attended, a male was asleep inside the vehicle, which showed no signs of having been driven recently.
“The officers’ assessment was that no offences were disclosed.
“This is a significant investigation and anyone with any information is asked to call the police confidentially on 0800 789 321.”
Meanwhile, neighbours in Pentwyn said Osborne and his partner had an on-off relationship and would argue in the street.
In recent months Osborne had been living in a tent in nearby woodland but would regularly see his children.
One neighbour said Osborne was always being thrown out by his partner.
She said: “He’s always arguing with her and shouting at her.
“They will stand in the street swearing and shouting at each other.”
Neighbours said they did not know what Osborne’s job was but he changed cars frequently and would be seen working on them in the street.
One neighbour, who said she thought Osborne and his partner had been living on the estate for about 10 years, said: “Some people have been saying that he was mentally unwell but he never once came across like that.”
She added: “He just seemed so ordinary.”
Neighbours also said they had recently seen Osborne behaving in an ordinary manner – picking up his children from school on Friday and singing with them in the kitchen on Sunday afternoon.