Britain to hold vigil for victims of London Bridge attack

The shadow of a commuter is photographed next to a nameplate at the scene of a fatal attack on London Bridge. Picture: Henry Nicholls/Reuters

The shadow of a commuter is photographed next to a nameplate at the scene of a fatal attack on London Bridge. Picture: Henry Nicholls/Reuters

Published Dec 2, 2019

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London - Britain will on Monday honour the

two people who were killed when a militant knife man went on a

stabbing spree near London Bridge in an attack that has thrust

criminal justice to the centre of the election campaign.

Jack Merritt, 25, and Saskia Jones, 23, were killed on

Friday when Usman Khan, a man convicted of terrorism offences in

2012, went on the rampage with kitchen knives at a prisoner

rehabilitation conference beside London Bridge.

Confronted by bystanders, including a Polish man brandishing

a narwhal tusk and others with fire extinguishers, Khan, who was

wearing a fake suicide vest, was wrestled to the ground. He was

then shot dead by British police.

A vigil in Guildhall Yard, in the heart of the City of

London, will be held to honour the dead, those injured, the

emergency services and the members of the public who tackled

Khan.

With less than two weeks to go until the Dec. 12 snap

election, British politicians sought to apportion blame for the

early release of Khan - who was released despite a warning from

the sentencing judge in 2012 that he was a danger to the public.

"I absolutely deplore the fact that this man was out on the

street, I think it was absolutely repulsive and we are going to

take action," Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Sunday.

Johnson's Conservatives have championed tough police and

prison measures, but opponents have criticised them for

overseeing almost a decade of cuts to public services.

A commuter looks at flowers and signs left at the scene of a fatal attack on London Bridge. Picture: Henry Nicholls/Reuters

BLAME GAME

Conservative cuts to community policing, probation, mental

health, youth and social services could "lead to missed chances

to intervene in the lives of people who go on to commit

inexcusable acts," said Opposition Labour Party leader Jeremy

Corbyn.

Corbyn, a veteran peace campaigner, also said convicted

terrorists should not necessarily serve their full prison terms.

Amid the political and media rhetoric, the father of one of

the dead called on the media and politicians not to use his

son's death to justify division or hatred.

"Don’t use my son’s death, and his and his colleague’s

photos - to promote your vile propaganda," David Merritt said in

a tweet above newspaper headlines from the Daily Mail and Daily

Express, both of which described a government plan for a "blitz

on freed jihadis".

"Jack stood against everything you stand for - hatred,

division, ignorance," he said.

Both the dead were involved in the University of Cambridge's

Learning Together programme to help educate and rehabilitate

prisoners. Khan was attending a Learning Together event when he

began his attack.

Sentenced to a minimum of eight years in prison in 2012 with

a requirement that the parole board assess his danger to the

public before release, he was set free in December 2018 -

without a parole board assessment.

Islamic State said the London Bridge attack on Friday was

carried out by one of its fighters, the group's Amaq news agency

reported on Saturday. The group did not provide any evidence.

Reuters

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