Suspect was a ‘high mental health risk’, but left untreated
THE terror suspect accused of killing three men in a Reading park was classed as a high mental health risk as his carers warned he was not getting the help he needed.
Official documents show Khairi Saadallah, 25, who remains in custody while he is being questioned under Section 41 of the Terrorism Act 2000, had mental health issues, a history of debt and homelessness, as well as alcohol and substance misuse.
The Daily Telegraph understands that the Libyan-born asylum seeker who came to Britain in 2012 showed features of post traumatic stress disorder and an “emotionally unstable personality disorder”.
However, an official source said: “There is a pattern of his case worker saying this man has serious mental health issues and needs help and treatment, but it was not available in the community. They were desperately trying to get him the help he needed but it was just not there.”
The disclosures support claims by his mother that he should have been admitted to a mental health unit.
His mother – who is at home in Tripoli, Libya, and does not want to be identified – has called for an investigation into his previous contact with healthcare systems.
It follows the disclosure yesterday that a specialist mental health team was asked to search for him last Friday after officials failed to find him during a routine check at his home. Later that evening, just before midnight, he was found on a street in Reading.
After being taken home to his temporary council flat, he is alleged on Saturday evening to have stabbed three men to death as they sat in a local park, Forbury Gardens.
MI5 has admitted that Saadallah was briefly under investigation in 2019 but that the case file was closed after two months.
He was also contacted two years ago by the Prevent deradicalisation programme but he was not judged to be of concern for a referral on to the scheme.
It coincided with the decision in 2018 by the Home Office to grant Saadallah the right to remain in the UK for five years.