Mosque suspect angered by BBC drama
A FATHER of four carried out the Finsbury Park terror attack after becoming “brainwashed” against Muslims when he watched a BBC drama about the Rochdale grooming scandal, a court heard.
Darren Osborne, 48, from Cardiff, became a “ticking time bomb” after seeing the drama Three Girls, based on events in Rochdale, where girls were raped and abused by a group of mainly British Pakistani men. He spent weeks researching extreme Right-wing material online, hired a van and drove from South Wales to London where he ploughed into a group of Muslim worshippers near Finsbury Park mosque. One died and several were injured. At the scene police found a note, allegedly written by Mr Osborne, in which he expressed extreme racist views and attacked politicians and public figures.
In the note he referred to Jeremy Corbyn, the Labour leader, as a “terrorist sympathiser” and said Sadiq Khan, the Mayor of London, was a “disgrace”.
At the opening of his trial at Woolwich Crown Court, the jury heard a police statement made by Sarah Andrews, his former partner, after the attack.
She told officers that, during their 20-year relationship, she had never
considered Mr Osborne to be racist and had not heard him making derogatory comments about Muslims until he saw Three Girls on BBC One in May 2017.
“In recent weeks Darren has become obsessed with Muslims, accusing them all of being rapists,” she added, and seeing the young girls exploited had angered him. “Darren has always been very unpredictable in his temperament and I think the feelings he had after watching fuelled his unpredictability.”
Jonathan Rees QC, prosecuting said: “The drama was based on the true stories of victims of the Rochdale grooming gangs, which comprised men of mainly British Pakistani origin.
“The underlying theme seems to be that the defendant felt that insufficient was being said or done to counter terrorism and grooming gangs comprising predominantly Muslim males.
“Against that background, the defendant decided to take matters into this own hands. He planned to make a public statement by killing Muslims, knowing that this handwritten note would be recovered by the authorities.”
Miss Andrews described Mr Osborne, who has three daughters and a son, as a loner and functioning alcoholic who began to follow Tommy Robinson, the former English Defence League leader, online, and others with extreme views, including Britain First.
She said: “He seemed totally brainwashed. He has been tarring all Muslims with the same brush… he was a ticking time bomb.” She tried to tell him not all Muslims were this way, “but he was saying that they are.” She said one of their daughters had been “too scared” to bring her Muslim friends home because of his behaviour.
In his note, Mr Osborne wrote: “Why are their [sic] terrorists on our streets today?” and questioned the response by politicians to terror attacks and child sex scandals: “Don’t people get it, this is happening up and down our Green and pleasant land, Ferrel [sic] inbred raping muslim men hunting in packs preying on our children, this will be coming to a town near you soon.”
On Friday, June 16, Mr Osborne hired a Luton van, picking it up the following morning. He spent an evening in the Hollybush pub, near his home, where witnesses recalled him making racist remarks. Mr Rees said he told a serving soldier who took exception to his racism: “I’m going to kill all the Muslims. Muslims are all terrorists. Your families are all going to be Muslim. I’m going to take it into my own hands.”
On June 18, Mr Osborne drove to London and asked for directions to Finsbury Park. At 12.15am he spotted a group of men in traditional Islamic dress who were helping Makram Ali, 51, who had collapsed in the street.
Mr Rees said: “The defendant had finally found his target.”
Accelerating sharply, Mr Osborne ploughed into the group. He was dragged from the van and some men began to attack him. They were stopped by an Imam from a nearby mosque.
Mr Rees said: “So it was a Muslim who stepped in to save the defendant.”
The court was told Mr Osborne smiled as police detained him and was heard to say: “I done my job.”
Mr Osborne denies murder and attempted murder. The trial continues.