I came nose to nose with attacker on London Bridge
Victim recalls how he was knifed by terror cell leader screaming ‘Allahu Akbar’
THE first stabbing victim of the London Bridge terrorists told yesterday of going ‘nose to nose’ with the ringleader.
Richard Livett was on an evening out with his brotherin-law when the three fanatics crashed their rented van into railings 6ft from them.
Believing it to be an accident, the 53-year- old businessman went to check that the occupants were unhurt.
But Khuram Butt, the terror cell’s leader, emerged from the van with a 12in ceramic-handled knife strapped to his hand.
‘I did not know it was a terrorist attack,’ Mr Livett told an inquest at the Old Bailey. ‘The next sight was a man running straight up right into my face, screaming Allahu Akbar. It happened within a second, a split second, of my turning round.
‘I just saw a dark face with a beard and his face was literally an inch or so off, nose to nose. I felt what I thought initially was a punch in the back, which turned out to be him flailing his Ringleader: Khuram Butt arm around the back of me and stabbing me. I felt the impact initially, then withdrawing the knife downwards and I realised what had happened.’
Mr Livett collapsed on the street and was found by an offduty army officer and an offduty doctor who treated his stab wound. Hospital surgeons saved his life by repairing serious injuries to his spleen, diaphragm and stomach.
Giving evidence about the atrocity, the father of two said he was unaware that the terrorists had already killed two pedestrians and injured eight others with their van.
‘It was chaos all around,’ he recalled. ‘I was aware of screaming and shouting and people around me. I think it was a personal mission to get help as quickly as I possibly could. I realised it was quite a serious blow I had taken.’
Mr Livett said the terrorists moved very quickly and were trying to cause ‘maximum damage as quickly as possible’.
The court also heard that a French waiter pleaded for help amid the carnage after being fatally stabbed in the neck.
Alexandre Pigeard, 26, was cornered by the murderers who shouted ‘this is for Allah’.
Witnesses saw him run a few yards while holding his bleeding neck and shouting: ‘What the f*** is happening?’ Moments later he lost control of his legs and fell to the ground.
As he lay in a pool of blood, he spotted his friend Robin Colleau and begged him for help.
In a heartbreaking witness statement, Mr Colleau admitted he decided he could not stop because the terrorists had almost reached him.
Mr Colleau, a hotel manager, said: ‘When I ran forward I saw my friend Alexandre Pigeard lying on the floor. There was blood all around. He looked at me when I passed him.
‘He said “Robin, please help me, my neck is open”. I could see he was holding his neck. I stopped for a moment but then said “I’m sorry but I have to run away as there is someone stabbing people behind us”.’
Mr Colleau had just finished watching the Champions League final in the Barrowboy and Banker pub when Butt, 27, Youssef Zaghba, 22, and Rachid Redouane, 30, launched their attack shortly after 10pm on June 3, 2017.
Before being shot dead by police they killed eight people and wounded 48 more. The inquest continues.
‘I am sorry but I have to run’