Finsbury Park trial - as it happened: Court hears new evidence on 'whether Darren Osborne acted with others' in attack

Father-of-four, 48, denies charges of murder and attempted murder

An artist’s sketch of Darren Osborne at Woolwich Crown Court, where he is on trial for murder (PA)

Woolwich Crown Court has heard evidence on whether the Finsbury Park attacker "acted together with other persons, specifically a man called Dave and a man called Terry Jones".

After a lengthy delay in proceedings, prosecutor Jonathan Rees QC called a police officer back to analyse new CCTV footage.

Darren Osborne, 48, denies charges of murder and attempted murder after allegedly ramming a van into Muslim worshippers shortly after midnight on 19 June.

The attack, deemed by prosecutors to be an act of terrorism, killed one man and seriously injured nine others, including a victim who was left trapped under the van.

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On Thursday, the jury heard that a 51-year-old man killed in the attack died of “catastrophic” injuries.

Makram Ali collapsed of unknown causes after leaving Ramadan prayers at the nearby Muslim Welfare House.

He fell to the ground just two minutes before the van struck and killed him shortly after midnight on 19 June, the court heard.

Some of the witnesses who rushed to help the grandfather previously speculated that he may have suffered a heart attack, but a Home Office pathologist said there was no abnormality.

Dr Simon Poole said low blood sugar or muscle weakness could have led to Mr Ali’s collapse but he was alive, talking and moving in the moments before being struck.

“The injuries are best summarised as being catastrophic,” he said. “The heart and lungs ceased to function abruptly... He would have died virtually instantaneously.”

Reports from forensic collision investigators concluded that Mr Osborne “intentionally steered” the van, which he hired in Cardiff and drove to London, into the crowd of worshippers.

Tests found that the vehicle was in good condition and there was nothing in the road that would have caused Mr Osborne to swerve or crash.

The court previously heard the pro-Palestinian al-Quds Day march may have been the father-of-four’s original target but he found surrounding roads closed and started searching for mosques in London.

A statement from Mr Osborne’s partner alleged that the father-of-four became “brainwashed” after watching a drama on grooming gangs and reading far-right social media posts.

Witnesses who saw the defendant in a Cardiff pub the night before the attack heard him allegedly saying: “I’m going to kill Muslims, your family are going to be Muslims, they’re all terrorists and I’m going to take it into my own hands.”

While in the pub, Mr Osborne was seen writing a letter believed to be the same one found in the van after the attack.

Police body-worn camera footage played to the jury earlier this week, showed the defendant launching into expletive-filled rants targeting Muslims, grooming gangs, Sadiq Khan, Jeremy Corbyn, Lily Allen and the Labour Party after he was arrested.

The trial continues.

Key Points

• Court hears new evidence on 'whether Darren Osborne acted together with other persons'
• Victim Makram Ali did not suffer a heart attack and died of 'catastrophic' injuries, experts tell jury
• Van was 'intentionally steered' into pedestrians by Mr Osborne, court heard
• ‘I’ve done my job, you can kill me now,’ Mr Osborne allegedly said as crowd restrained him
• Court played clips of police body-worn camera footage showing anti-Muslim rants in van
• Mr Osborne 'said he wanted to kill Muslims' in pub on the night before attack

[29 January 2018 16:11 · Lizzie Dearden]

Asked whether she has seen any evidence of anyone else entering or leaving the van, DC Londt replies: "No."

[29 January 2018 16:15 · Lizzie Dearden]

The court has now been cleared while Darren Osborne's glasses are obtained so he can look at a CCTV still in the dock.

[29 January 2018 16:26 · Lizzie Dearden]

We are now back in but not for long, the prosecution says there is nothing they can present in the time left and expect to conclude their case tomorrow morning.

The jury is being sent away for the day.

[29 January 2018 16:38 · Lizzie Dearden]

And that's it for the day. The prosecution now expects to close its case tomorrow morning, when our live coverage will return.

Thank you for reading.