Victim Jack dedicated life to helping the underdog
JACK MERRITT was a ‘champion for underdogs everywhere’, his grief-stricken father, David, said yesterday as he described his 25year-old son as a ‘beautiful spirit’.
But in the cruellest of ironies, it was the young Cambridge University criminologist’s determination to assist the disadvantaged that cost him his life – cut down by a convicted terrorist he was helping to rehabilitate.
Unknown to Jack, Usman Khan had feigned redemption and falsely claimed he had been ‘deradicalised’ to get out of prison early and launch his murderous rampage.
No one saw it coming, least of all Jack who always saw the best in people. He relished his job as the course co-ordinator of a Cambridge University criminology department initiative called Learning Together, in which students in universities and prisons ‘learn degree-level material alongside one another in the prison environment’.
By all accounts it was successful and Jack was heartened that he was making a difference. Whether he had worked closely with Khan is unclear, but their paths are thought to have crossed more than once.
Along with others at the university, Jack believed 28-year-old Khan’s story represented a powerful case study of how a life could be changed for the better.
Friends recalled that from an early age Jack possessed a strong sense of social justice. ‘He was
‘The warmest heart with time for anyone’
always sticking up for the little guy,’ said one. In time, through school, university and beyond, this crystalised into a mission, a deeply held belief in the transformative powers of education.
Jack’s godfather Paul Brooker described his death as ‘a sickening waste of a young, hugely talented life’, adding he was ‘smart, funny and loved his work’.
Lecturers recalled him being ‘destined for great things’.
Colleague Serena Wright described him as ‘the sweetest, most caring and selfless individual I’ve ever met’, adding on Twitter: ‘I loved him to pieces.
‘The warmest heart, always with time for anyone. Completely irreplaceable.’
Before studying law at Manchester University he attended schools in Cambridge, where he lived with his mother Anne, father David, and younger brother Joe.
From Manchester, he returned to his home city, completing a master’s degree in philosophy.
Last night, friends said his girlfriend, Leanne O’Brien, a veterinary science student, was ‘beside herself’ over his death.
Jack frequently highlighted concerns – a soup kitchen experiencing shortages, for example – and shared details of his work with prisoners on Twitter. In September last year, he wrote of the ‘exciting news’ that he was ‘welcoming students with criminal convictions to study undergraduate certificates… to improve inclusivity in our university’.
On International Women’s Day in 2017, he shared a picture of his mother on Instagram captioned: ‘This woman showed me that traditional gender roles are there to be challenged; a powerful businesswoman, scientist, jetsetter, breadwinner and much more.’
His father answered the door of the family home yesterday but was too distressed to talk. Earlier, he had written on Twitter: ‘My son, Jack, who was killed in this attack, would not wish his death to be used as the pretext for more draconian sentences or for detaining people unnecessarily. RIP Jack: you were a beautiful spirit who always took the side of the underdog.
‘Cambridge lost a proud son and a champion for underdogs everywhere, but especially those dealt a losing hand by life, who ended up in the prison system.’
Neighbour Dawn Marr, 80, said: ‘Jack was such a fine young man. His father was very proud of him. I used to babysit for him and his brother. It’s a terrible loss.’
Another neighbour, who asked not to be named, said: ‘It is devastating news. We’re in the process of letting our children know.
‘They went to school with Jack, so it’s all very sad and shocking.’