‘A BEAUTIFUL SPIRIT’
Queen praises heroes who stepped in
THE Queen paid tribute to the victims of the London Bridge attack yesterday and praised the heroes who risked their lives to stop Usman Khan’s knife rampage.
Her Majesty said: “Prince Philip and I have been saddened to hear of the terror attacks at London Bridge.
“We send our thoughts, prayers and deepest sympathies to all those who have lost loved ones and who have been affected by yesterday’s terrible violence.
“I express my enduring thanks to the police and emergency services, as well as the brave individuals who put their own lives at risk to selflessly help and protect others.”
Khan launched his attack after a lunch break at a Learning together prisoner rehabilitation session at Fishmongers’ Hall.
He tried to go up a main staircase to the Grade Ii-listed headquarters of one of the livery companies of the
City of London.
But he was blocked from going upstairs by ex-offenders, who had been invited to the sessions, and managed to bundle Khan outside.
They gave chase as the knifeman then headed south on London Bridge.
He was pursued by three men, a Polish kitchen worker Lukasz who grabbed a five-foot narwhal tusk from a wall in the hall before giving chase, and two former convicts.
One of the ex-offenders, who has not been named, armed himself with a fire extinguisher he grabbed from the building.
The third pursuer was James Ford, 42, – a convicted murderer on day release.
The trio were seen spraying Khan with the fire extinguisher and holding him at bay with the narwhal whale tusk.
Two tour guides,thomas Gray and Stevie Hurst, who work at Small Car Big City, ran to join them in restraining and disarming the terrorist.
Both men got out of their vehicles to help, with Mr Gray saying afterwards: “I don’t consider myself a hero. I’m just a Londoner doing his bit.”
His colleague felt the trio who had chased and wrestled the knifeman to the ground were the real heroes.
Mr Hurst said: “We saw a guy being accosted to the floor. Everyone was just on top of him trying to bundle him to the ground.
“We saw that the knife was still in his hand... I just put a foot in to try and kick him in the head.we were trying to do as much as we could to try and dislodge the knife from his hand so he wouldn’t harm anyone else.
“The guys that were there were absolutely amazing. Heroes beyond belief.”
Another hero was a Britishtransport Police plain-clothes officer who had spent the morning giving evidence at a court hearing.
The detective, who has not been named, was walking across the bridge on the other side when he saw the struggle with the knifeman and dashed across the dual carriageway, dodging traffic, to help disarm Khan.
Thevery Reverendandrew Nunn, Dean of the nearby Southwark Cathedral, said: “I’m absolutely amazed and humbled by the people’s heroism, that they went into that dangerous situation on behalf of other people.”
Chief Constable Paul Crowther, of Britishtransport Police, said: “I spoke with the officer who bravely ran towards danger.
“He, as well as other members of the public, should be extremely proud of what they did to stop this man on London Bridge.”