Two attempted murder charges for Salih Khater
THE Westminster terror suspect has been charged with two counts of attempted murder by driving a car through crowds outside Parliament.
Salih Khater, 29, will appear in court facing a count of attempting to murder members of the public and one count of attempting to murder police officers, following the incident outside Parliament on Tuesday.
The Sudanese-born suspect, who is a British citizen, allegedly drove his vehicle into pedestrians before swerving towards police officers. He then crashed into barriers outside the Palace of Westminster and was arrested.
When Khater crashed into a group of cyclists before ploughing into a barrier outside Parliament it promoted a major counter terrorism operation. Police carried out a number of property searches and Khater was detained under section 41 of the Terrorism Act.
Rooftop camera footage shows his Ford Fiesta mounting a pavement on the wrong side of the road before it travelled around 130ft (40m) and hit a bollard.
Two weeks ago, Khater received his British citizenship, meaning he could travel back to Sudan safely on his British passport.
Prosecutors will be treating his case as terrorism, the Metropolitan Police said after charging him yesterday.
Earlier this week, a friend of Khater’s, who did not wish to be identified, told The Daily Telegraph: “Last time I saw him, was about two weeks ago. He was not himself at all… because of his family problems, they were causing him a lot of stress. His father and [sibling] all died within a couple of months of each other.”