Lives were torn apart
VICTIMS of the Westminster Bridge terror attack were hurled into the air “like rag dolls” as a lone wolf jihadist mowed them down in a car, an inquest heard yesterday.
Khalid Masood must have felt “every bang and thud in 82 seconds of high and terrible drama” as he killed two men and two women, and injured many more, on Westminster Bridge, before stabbing an unarmed policeman to death, the coroner was told.
Consumed by a hatred of the UK and the West, Masood, 52, had deliberately targeted people walking over the bridge close to the heart of British democracy on March 22 last year, the court heard.
“There is no getting away from the barbarity and inhumanity of what occurred,” said Gareth Patterson QC. “The victims were from a wide range of people, different nationalities, different faiths and different cultures. This was terrorism of an indiscriminate type.”
Masood had driven across the bridge in a grey Hyundai Tucson 4x4 at 31mph. After crashing into a wall, he got out brandishing two long kitchen knives and ran into the precincts of Parliament where he stabbed PC Keith Palmer to death.
Moments later he was shot by a police officer after refusing to drop his weapons. As he lay dying, some of the policemen he had just threatened to kill gave him emergency treatment.
“It was our values which led to those police officers immediately trying to save his life after he was shot,” Mr Patterson said.
Relatives of Masood’s victims along with Metropolitan Police Commissioner Cressida Dick were at the opening day of the inquests into their deaths yesterday.
Horrific
Chief Coroner Mark Lucraft QC began with a minute’s silence before he told the Old Bailey: “The lives of many were torn apart by 82 seconds of high and terrible drama.”
Masood killed US tourist Kurt Cochran, 54, retired window cleaner Leslie Rhodes, 75, office manager Aysha Frade, 44, Romanian interior designer Andreea Cristea, 31, and PC Keith Palmer, 48.
Their horrific deaths were caught on CCTV cameras and dash-cams on cars and buses. Some of the graphic footage was played to the hearing.
Mr Patterson, who is representing relatives of the bridge victims, said witnesses described how pedestrians were thrown around “like rag dolls and human bowling pins”.
Masood began his rampage on the south side of Westminster Bridge by St Thomas’s Hospital. His first victim was Kurt Cochran who sacrificed his life to save his wife, the court heard.
Just before Masood ploughed into them, Mr Cochran pushed wife Melissa aside. The mother-of-two suffered severe injuries but survived.
His next victim was Mr Rhodes who was coming back from a hospital appointment. He got trapped under the Hyundai and was dragged for about 33 yards. He died a day later.
Ms Frade, a mother of two, was chatting on the phone when Masood ploughed into her from behind. She flew into the air, landed under a double-decker bus and died instantly. Ms Cristea was taking a photo of the Houses of Parliament when the Hyundai hit her. The impact flung her over the bridge and into the Thames, nearly 40ft below.
A tourist boat and a London Fire Brigade vessel got her out of the water. She had suffered serious head injuries and died on April 6.
The inquest heard PC Palmer and two other unarmed PCs tried to stop Masood. As his colleagues retreated, ex-Territorial Army soldier PC Palmer struggled with him before being driven back. CCTV footage showed Masood stabbing him “ferociously” four or five times as he lay defenceless on the ground. Hugo Keith QC said: “Masood had one sole intention which was to kill a police officer.”
The victims’ inquests will be heard without a jury. Masood’s inquest, with a jury, will be heard immediately afterwards. The hearing continues.
WiNDOW CLEANER LESLiE ‘LOVED BY EVERYONE’
THE oldest of Masood’s victims, retired window cleaner Leslie Rhodes was “placid, quiet and kind”, the inquest heard.
The 75-year-old, left, was on his way back from an appointment at nearby St Thomas’ Hospital.
His niece Amanda Rhodes said relatives were left “incredibly angry” by the death. She said Mr Rhodes, of Battersea, south-west London, was loved by everyone. “He would do anything to help anyone who needed it.”