Killer who helped stop terrorist with tusk to have sentence reduced

A CONVICTED murderer from Hull who helped foil the London Bridge terror attack armed only with a whale tusk will have his prison sentence cut following an intervention by the Queen.

Steven Gallant, 42, was on day release at the event for reformed prisoners in Fishmonger’s Hall when he helped end Usman Khan’s rampage last November, which left two people dead.

The victims were Jack Merrit, 25, and 23- year- old Saskia Jones, who both worked for the Learning Together scheme to help prisoners access education. It was Gallant’s first time out on licence after being jailed for life with a minimum term of 17 years in 2005 for the murder of a firefighter in Hull.

He was one of three people to help restrain Khan, who was wearing a fake suicide vest and armed with two knives, before the terrorist was shot dead by police. Gallant used a tusk from the hall.

The Ministry of Justice revealed that the Queen had employed the little used “Royal

Prerogative of Mercy” to bring Gallant’s case before the parole board 10 months early.

Gallant was one of two men convicted of the murder of Barrie Jackson, 33, who was beaten to death outside a pub in Hull. The pair lay in wait for Mr Jackson after believing he had attacked Gallant’s girlfriend.

Mr Jackson’s student son Jack, 21, said: “In my mind, Gallant has nearly done his time and if someone has undergone rehabilitation and change, which it seems he has, then it’s fair enough.”