Murderer on day release saved woman from London Bridge attacker
A convicted murderer out on day release from prison was reportedly among bystanders hailed as heroes for tackling the London Bridge attacker to the ground before police arrived.
James Ford, 42, tried to save a woman’s life after she was stabbed in the London Bridge rampage Friday afternoon (local time), Mail Online reported, that killed a man and woman and injured several others.
Mail Online reported Ford had been jailed for life in April 2004 for murdering a 21-year-old girl named Amanda Champion, who had learning disabilities.
British police named the attacker as 28-year-old Usman Khan, who had been previously convicted of terrorism offences and released from prison last year. The Sun reported he was convicted in 2012.
“This individual was known to authorities, having been convicted in 2012 for terrorism offences,” said Britain's top counter-terrorism police officer Neil Basu in a statement.
“He was released from prison in December 2018 on licence and clearly, a key line of enquiry now is to establish how he came to carry out this attack.”
Khan was one of nine members of an al Qaida-inspired terror group that plotted to bomb the London Stock Exchange and build a terrorist training camp. He was jailed for a minimum term of eight years.
London police chief Cressida Dick said Khan launched his assault at Fishmongers' Hall, a grand building at the northern end of the bridge.
One of those who confronted the attacker there told the Daily Telegraph newspaper that he had kicked him in the head to make him drop the knife.
Stevie Hurst, who gives tours of the capital, said he and a colleague took on Khan with about five others.
“I jumped in and kicked him in the head to make him release his knife. A few others did so,” he told the Telegraph. “He was shouting 'get off me, get off me'.”
As three armed police officers circled Khan in the shadow of the Shard skyscraper, western Europe's tallest building, one bystander in a suit and tie grabbed the knife and swiftly retreated as police engaged.
The city's mayor Sadiq Khan said ordinary Londoners had demonstrated “breath-taking heroism” in disarming the knife-wielding attacker despite him having a device which they did not know to be a hoax.
During the 2017 election campaign, London Bridge was the scene of an attack when three militants drove a van into pedestrians and then attacked people in the surrounding area, killing eight and injuring at least 48.
Islamic State said its fighters were responsible, but the British authorities have cast doubt on those claims.
Earlier this month, Britain had lowered its national terrorism threat level to "substantial" from "severe", its lowest level since 2014.
With Reuters and Press Association.
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