Finsbury Park attack trial: Darren Osborne was 'smiling' after running over Muslims with van, court hears

‘I’ve done my job, you can kill me now,' suspect allegedly said while being taken away by police

(Reuters)

The alleged Finsbury Park attacker was seen “smiling” after he ploughed a van into a crowd of Muslim worshippers, killing one man and injuring several more, a court has heard.

Darren Osborne denies charges of murder and attempted murder over the incident on 19 June, which the prosecution are treating as a terrorist attack.

Adnan Mohamud told Woolwich Crown Court he had been praying alongside Makram Ali, 51, who died of his injuries.

Paying tribute to a “very friendly man who always took the time to say ‘hello’,” he described seeing Mr Ali collapse in front of him and drop his walking stick a short distance from the Muslim Welfare House.

Mr Mohamud dialled 999 and a recording of the call played to the jury showed him relaying Mr Ali’s condition to the operator when the van struck.

Shouting and screaming can be heard in the background, with people calling their loved ones’ names, before Mr Mohamud comes back on to the phone to say: “Someone just came in a big white van and ran over a lot of people…people are dead, he just ran over everyone.”

Recalling the horror in a statement read to the court, Mr Mohamud, 28, said he was hit on his left side and saw the van going over Mr Ali and scattering other victims.

Mr Osborne got out of the hired vehicle and attempted to flee, the court heard, trying to get through a metal gate at the end of the side road and climb a fence before running back towards the scene and being tackled to the ground.

“I remember him saying: ‘I’ve done my job, you can kill me now’,” Mr Mohamud said. “He was smiling as he said it.

(Facebook/SWNS (Facebook/SWNS)

“He was being taken to the police van and I will never forget how he was always smiling.”

Among the victims whose evidence were heard was a disabled man who was knocked out of his wheelchair, a deaf man and one whose artificial leg was run over in the attack.

Ibrahim Benaounda said he could feel his bones breaking as the van smashed into the crowd.

“It felt like being on a rollercoaster, going round and round,” said a statement read to the jury.

“I remember feeling everything – I could feel my bones breaking.”

He suffered fractures to his ribs and spine, injuries to his spleen and internal bleeding from the impact.

Hamdi al-Faiq was left under the van, with his cousin and around 50 other members of the public battling to lift if off him and pull him free.

He had been next to Mr Ali after he initially collapsed and described him appearing stronger and smiling at him as they talked.

“I saw a shadow of something coming, I thought it was an ambulance,” he told the court. “I felt something hit me, very strong. And then I was unconscious.”

Doctors say Mr al-Faiq, who arrived to give evidence using a crutch, suffered multiple rib fractures, lung contusions, a broken left collarbone, a complex fracture to the pelvis for which he needed surgery, a fractured left forearm, fractured left foot, wounds to his right foot.

Afterwards he developed a clot on his lung and is receiving ongoing care.

Witnesses told the court Mr Ali was conscious and appeared to be improving shortly before the attack, when he and well-wishers were waiting for an ambulance.

Mohammed Geedi said he was “reciting something” and appeared to have a minor head injury from his fall.

He says Mr Ali had a minor injury to his head “like a scratch” but no other wounds and was being helped by several people.

Mr Geedi told the jury he saw a white van's lights approaching and heard it revving up to accelerate towards the group while turning left.

He was caught by the van's driver side wing mirror, which clipped him on the shoulder and knocked him to the ground.

“I could see a lot of people splattered all over the place,” he said, describing severe injuries to Mr Ali.

He was among the men who detained Mr Osborne after he tried to flee down a dead end, leaving the van’s engine running, the court heard.

Several witnesses said they feared the van driver could be armed and attack them with a knife or gun, mirroring terror attacks around the world.

Ali Mohammed was hit by the vehicle but managed to get up and jump on the defendant’s back to bring him to the ground, shouting: ”Why are you trying to kill me?“

The trial continues.