Streatham terror attacker's father: 'I never thought he would go this far'

The father of the Streatham terror attacker has said he never thought his son 'would go this far' and he did not know he had become radicalised.

Faraz Khan said Sudesh Amman was reciting the Koran when they last spoke, a day before the attack.

The 20-year-old was shot dead by police on Sunday after grabbing a knife from a shop and attacking two bystanders in Streatham High Road, south London. A third person was injured by flying glass during the gunfire.

He had been jailed for possessing and distributing terrorist documents in December 2018 but was freed automatically halfway through his sentence less than a fortnight ago.

He had been staying at a nearby bail hostel, while under 24-hour police surveillance.

Security services regarded him as an 'extremely concerning individual', a source told the PA news agency.

It is thought that police monitoring intensified in the days before the attack as his behaviour grew ever more concerning.

While in Belmarsh high-security prison, Amman reportedly told a fellow inmate that he wanted to murder an MP and copy the killing of Jo Cox, according to the Times.

Mr Khan, who left the UK for Sri Lanka three months ago, told Sky News: "I spoke to Sudesh one day before he passed away. I didn't know he had become radicalised.

"He was reciting the Koran to me and he was translating that to me. He's never spoken to me about these kind of things."

"He would never talk to me about naughty things. "I heard they found a lot of things and I saw them on the news, but I never thought he would go this far."

His comments came as one of the victims was named in reports as teacher Monika Luftner.

In a statement, St Bede's Catholic Infant & Nursery School in Lambeth said a member of staff was making a "good recovery after experiencing a shocking attack".

Meanwhile, the Government is pressing ahead with plans for emergency laws to keep terrorists behind bars for longer by ending automatic release halfway through a sentence.

There are 224 terrorists in prison in Great Britain, with most thought to be holding Islamist-extremist views, according to the latest published figures to the end of September.

As many as 50 terrorists could be freed from jail this year, figures suggest.