Terrorist killer’s mum offers deep sympathies to his victims’ families
THE mother of London Bridge terrorist Usman Khan still finds the horrors wreaked by her son “hard to believe”.
She and her family had no idea the convicted extremist planned to kill at a rehabilitation event organised by Cambridge University.
If there had been any inkling, they would have stopped him, a preinquest review hearing at the Old Bailey was told yesterday.
Jack Merritt, 25, and Saskia Jones, 23, were killed when Khan went on the rampage with two kitchen knives at Fishmongers’ Hall, London Bridge, in November last year.
He wounded three other people before being shot dead by police.
Jude Bunting, representing Khan’s family, told the hearing: “The mother and her family are deeply shocked by the events. It was and is a tragedy and others were injured.
“As a mother herself, she still finds it hard to believe that such terrible damage could be caused by her son.
“She and her family would like to convey their deepest sympathies.
“They also wish to make clear they were not aware of his mindset or his intentions. Had there been indications, they would have blocked those.”
Inquests into the deaths of Mr Merritt and Ms Jones will be held at the Old Bailey next year. The inquest into Khan’s death will take place shortly afterwards.
Yesterday, Ms Bunting application on behalf of the killer’s mother for Interested Person status at the inquests of his victims.
IP status would give her legal team the automatic right to question witnesses and see documents in advance.
Jonathan Hough, QC, counsel to the inquests, urged Chief Coroner Mark Lucraft, QC, not to grant IP status to Khan’s mother at the inquests into Mr Merritt and Ms Jones.
Judge Lucraft will give his ruling at a later date.
Khan had been jailed in 2012 for his part in an Al- Qaeda- inspired plot to attack targets including the Houses of Parliament, the Stock Exchange and the home of Boris Johnson, then Mayor of London.
He was initially given an indeterminate sentence with an eightyear minimum.
But the sentence was switched on appeal to 16 years, meaning he was automatically released after serving half the time in custody.
Khan was assessed as being the “highest possible risk” when he was released, the hearing was told.
His “mentoring” ended in August 2019 and he was unsupervised on November 29 when he went to the Learning Together event.
Ms Jones’s family are urging the coroner to consider whether the Government breached its duty to protect her right to life, as enshrined in article two of the European Convention on Human Rights.
Terror attack victims… Saskia Jones, 23, above, and Jack Merritt, 25 made an