Killer hero of terrorist attack gets Queen help
THE Queen has secured the early release of a convicted killer who risked his life to tackle the London Bridge terror attacker.
Steven Gallant, 42, was at a rehabilitation event at Fishmongers’ Hall when Usman Khan, 28, ran amok with two kitchen knives.
Gallant chased him on with a narwhal tusk, while others had a fire extinguisher and a decorative pike.
Khan, who was wearing a realisticlooking suicide belt, was shot dead by police.
It was Gallant’s first time out on licence after being jailed for life with a 17- year minimum term in 2005 for the murder of a firefighter in Hull.
Khan killed Cambridge graduates Jack Merritt, 25, and
Saskia Jones, 23, who helped run the Learning Together event.
The Queen has utilised the little used “Royal Prerogative of Mercy” to bring Gallant before the Parole Board 10 months early on the advice of Lord Chancellor Robert Buckland. The Ministry of Justice said it was being done to recognise Gallant’s “exceptionally brave actions”.
The decision rests with the Parole Board, but it is highly unlikely Gallant, understood to be a model prisoner, will be denied his freedom.
Jack Merritt’s dad David, 55, said: “He was very close to Jack and he turned his life around and reformed. I am really pleased for him.”
Gallant was one of two men who beat to death Barrie Jackson, 33, in Hull after they believed he attacked Gallant’s girlfriend.