Finsbury Park accused ‘angry over terrorism’

Attacker was intent on killing Muslims

A man accused of carrying out the Finsbury Park attack “decided to take matters into his own hands” after growing angry at a rise in terrorism and the Rotherham child sex scandal, a court has heard.

Darren Osborne, 48, of Glyn Rhosyn in Cardiff, allegedly mowed down Makram Ali, 51, and nine other people on a crowded pavement in north London shortly after 12.15am on June 19 last year.

Osborne, described by his partner as a “loner and functioning alcoholic”, had become obsessed with Muslims in the weeks before the attack and accused them all of being rapists and belonging to paedophile gangs, the jury at Woolwich Crown Court was told yesterday.

Prosecutor Jonathan Rees QC said the scene of the attack, near two mosques, was busy with worshippers attending Ramadan night prayers.

Mr Rees said it is alleged Osborne “was trying to kill as many of the group as possible” as he deliberately drove a van into them.

He told the jury: “In the event, he killed one person, a 51-year-old man called Makram Ali, and in addition he injured many others, some of them seriously.”

Osborne is charged with the murder of Mr Ali and attempted murder of “persons at the junction of Seven Sisters Road and Whadcoat Street, London”, which he denies.

Mr Rees said the “act of extreme violence” was considered by the prosecution to be a terrorist attack.

A handwritten note was found in the cab of the van after the attack, he said.

Mr Rees told the jury: “He planned to make a public statement by killing Muslims, knowing that his handwritten note would be recovered by the authorities.”