The Courier & Advertiser (Angus and Dundee)
‘I played dead as he knifed me in neck’
Asurvivor of the Fishmongers’ Hall terror attack has told how she “played dead” after Usman Khan stabbed her repeatedly and tried to “finish” her.
Convicted terrorist Khan, 28, killed Cambridge University graduates Saskia Jones, 23, and Jack Merritt, 25, on the afternoon of November 29, 2019.
He injured three more people during a five-minute rampage at a Learning Together event before being shot dead by police on London Bridge.
Isobel Rowbotham worked part-time as an office manager for Learning Together, an organisation dedicated to the education of prisoners.
Giving evidence at Guildhall in London, Ms Rowbotham said she was in the foyer when Mr Merritt emerged covered in blood.
“He was shouting that he had been stabbed. He was holding his stomach and had obviously been injured, she said.
“There was a lot of blood. He was wearing a white shirt so the red blood was quite obvious. He was hunched and in a lot of pain.
“I looked around to my left and then I saw Usman (Khan) coming towards me with knives in his hands.”
Ms Rowbotham said he was a few metres away, holding two kitchen knives and moving “purposefully”.
“I knew who it was and said, ‘No, Usman, please don’t’.
“He was not going to stop. I turned to my left and just tried to hunch and protect myself.”
When he stabbed her repeatedly it felt like being punched, she told jurors.
“I remember his final stabs were in my neck as if they were intending to finish me.
“I was on the floor and had closed my eyes but could still hear.
“I decided to play dead just in case he came back again. I tried to slow down my breathing and blood flow as much as possible.”
Later, she tried to call emergency services on her phone but there was “too much blood to press on the screen”, she said.
Ms Rowbotham was given first aid before being taken to hospital, the court heard.
“He
was wearing a white shirt so the blood was quite obvious