Father of four held after van attack on Muslims
47-year-old is named as suspect in latest incident
A MAN held by police over the Finsbury Park attack has been identified as 47-year-old Darren Osborne.
Osborne, believed to be a father of four from Cardiff, was arrested after pedestrians were targeted by a man driving a van near Finsbury Park Mosque in north London early yesterday. Reports said he had recently split from his partner.
The London Ambulance Service took nine people to three London hospitals. Two others were treated for minor injuries at the scene.
Witnesses described hearing a van driver, who was detained by members of the public at the scene, shout: “I’m going to kill Muslims.”
The man was initially arrested on suspicion of attempted murder but Scotland Yard said he was later arrested for the commission, preparation or instigation of terrorism including murder and attempted murder.
Residents near Cardiff said they were “shocked” after seeing photographs of their neighbour being arrested in London.
His mother described him as a “complex” person but said “that’s all I can say”.
The woman, who is not being named, broke down in tears. She said: “It’s a terrible, terrible shock.”
Police have been searching a residential address in Pentwyn, where Osborne is listed as living.
Five residents identified images of the man being arrested as their neighbour, Osborne, who according to reports is originally from Somerset. Neighbour Khadijeh Sherizi said: “I saw him on the news and I thought ‘oh my God that is my neighbour’. He has been so normal. He was in his kitchen yesterday afternoon singing with his kids.
“He was the dad of the family. He has kids. He lives next door. He seemed polite and pleasant to me. I just can’t believe it.”
Scotland Yard said the attack unfolded while a man who had taken ill was receiving first aid from the public. He was pronounced dead at the scene at 1.04am.
A spokesman said police investigations are “continuing to establish whether there is any link between his death and the attack” adding: “The man suspected of driving the van was detained by members of the public at the scene.” Speaking after she chaired a meeting of the Government’s Cobra emergencies committee, Prime Minister Theresa May said the attack was “every bit as insidious and destructive to our values and our way of life” as the recent string of terror attacks apparently motivated by Islamist extremism.”
THERESA MAY has vowed that “hatred and evil” of the kind seen in the attack on a north London mosque will never succeed.
The Prime Minister was speaking following a meeting with security officials and ministers in the Government’s Cobra emergency committee in Whitehall.
She confirmed that police believe the man who drove a van into worshippers outside Finsbury Park Mosque in the early hours of yesterday acted alone.
Speaking outside 10 Downing Street, Mrs May said the attack had “once again targeted the ordinary and the innocent going about their daily lives – this time, British Muslims as they left a mosque, having broken their fast and prayed together at this sacred time of year”.
She added: “Today we come together, as we have done before, to condemn this act and to state once again that hatred and evil of this kind will never succeed.”
Mrs May said that the attack on Muslims was “every bit as insidious and destructive to our values and our way of life” as the recent string of terror attacks apparently motivated by Islamist extremism, adding: “We will stop at nothing to defeat it.”
The Prime Minister said police would continue to assess the security needs of mosques and would provide whatever additional resources were needed.
“This was an attack on Muslims near their place of worship and, like all terrorism in whatever form, it shares the same fundamental goal. It seeks to drive us apart and to break the precious bonds of solidarity and citizenship which we share in this country,” she said.
“We will not let this happen. This morning we have seen a sickening attempt to destroy those freedoms and to break those bonds of citizenship that define our United Kingdom.
“It is a reminder that terrorism, extremism and hatred take many forms and our determination to tackle them must be the same whoever is responsible.”
Mrs May said there had been “far too much tolerance of extremism” – including Islamophobia – and that the Government was determined to stamp it out.
She affirmed plans to deny extremists a “safe space” on the internet and to review the Government’s counter-terrorism strategy.
The Prime Minister acknowledged that the attack came at a “difficult time” for London following the Grenfell Tower fire and the London Bridge attack and she paid tribute to the spirit of the city.
“What we have seen throughout – whether in the heroism of the ordinary citizens who fought off the attackers at London Bridge; the unbreakable resolve of the residents in Kensington; or this morning the spirit of the community that apprehended this attacker – is that this is an extraordinary city of extraordinary people,” she said.
“It is home to a multitude of communities that together make London one of the greatest cities on Earth – diverse, welcoming, vibrant, compassionate, confident and determined never to give in to hate. These are the values that define this city. These are the values that define this country. These are the values that this Government will uphold. These are the values that will prevail.”
Meanwhile, Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn described the attack on a group of worshippers near a mosque in his own constituency as “terror on the streets”.
Mr Corbyn, who lives close to the scene, said he became aware of the incident very quickly as police responded early yesterday morning.
The Leader of the Opposition praised the emergency services for their “very quick and very timely” response after the driver was arrested at the scene.
Asked if the suspected terrorist attack was being treated as seriously as others, he said: “I’m treating it absolutely as seriously as any other attack. This was a van driven into a crowd of people who were tending a man who was already injured and they were coming home from night-time prayers in the mosque.”
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn. I’m treating it absolutely as seriously as any other attack.