London Bridge attack: First victim named as pressure mounts on Johnson for investigation into release of convict taught by Anjem Choudary
Security minister confirms police are not looking for more suspects in investigation
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Labour and the Conservatives sought to blame each other for the release of the convicted terrorist who killed two people in London Bridge on Friday.
Prime minister Boris Johnson and home secretary Priti Patel both claimed that Jeremy Corbyn’s party was responsible for the law that meant 28-year-old Usman Khan was freed on licence half way through his 16-year sentence.
Meanwhile former shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper questioned what action the government took to assess the risks posed by the attacker, and both Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn and Sadiq Khan, the mayor of London, pointed to cuts made to public services over the last decade.
The attacker, who was convicted of terrorism offences in 2012 and released last December, was fatally shot by police at about 2pm on Friday.
One of the victims has been named as 25-year-old Jack Merritt, who worked as a course coordinator for the prisoners’ rehabilitation programme holding the event at Fishmongers’ Hall.
His father David described him as “an exceptional young man” and called for greater funding of probation services monitoring released prisoners.
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Simon Stevens, the NHS’ chief executive, has said the condition of a London Bridge attack victim who was critically injured has improved.
“While three people remain in hospital, this means two are now stable and a third has less serious injuries,” he told PA.
Priti Patel, the home secretary, has hit back at Labour’s Yvette Cooper over her criticism of the release of Usman Khan.
Ms Cooper questioned why Khan had been released early when he still posed a threat to the public.
Now, Ms Patel has claimed it was a policy by the last Labour government in 2008 that meant Khan had to be released after half of his jail sentence.
British Transport Police has confirmed that the man pictured on London Bridge with a knife taken from the attacker was a serving officer.
The officer, who was in plain clothes, helped other members of the public detain Usman Khan.
An image of him holding the knife appeared on the front page of multiple newspapers on Saturday morning.
Chief Constable Paul Crowther said in a statement:
“First and foremost, I would like to express my deepest sympathies to everyone who is affected or who lost loved ones during yesterday’s senseless attack.
“This morning, I spoke with the British Transport Police officer who bravely ran towards danger yesterday afternoon.
“The courageous actions he took when faced with the horrors of this attack are remarkable. He, as well as other members of the public, should be extremely proud of what they did to stop this man on London Bridge.”
Earlier today, we reported that one of the bystanders who intervened to help pin down the attacker was a convicted murderer.
Now, the family of Amanda Champion, the woman who was killed, have insisted James Ford, the murderer, is "not a hero" despite him helping to stop the terror attack.
"Yes, he did something nice, but that doesn’t make up for what he has done," Angela Cox, Ms Champion's aunt, said.
"He’s not a hero, and he never will be."
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has called for a "full investigation" into Usman Khan's release.
Speaking in Mytholmroyd, West Yorkshire, Mr Corbyn said:
"Clearly there has been a complete disaster in that lives have been lost because of his [Khan's] behaviour.
"I think there is also a question about what the Probation Office were doing - were they involved at all - and whether the Parole Board should have been involved in deciding whether or not he should have been allowed to be released from prison in the first place, and also what happened in prison?
"Was he given a deradicalisation programme or not?"
The Labour leader said people need to know the answers to those questions "urgently".
In a statement, Metropolitan Police Assistant Commissioner Neil Basu has said Usman Khan was subject to an “extensive list of licence conditions” on his release from prison and that “to the best of my knowledge he was complying with those conditions”.
Mr Basu added that he is aware one of the victims has been named in news reports but said the police are still awaiting formal identification from the coroner.
He also thanked the support of the public and said nearly 500 videos of the incident have been sent to police so far.
Mr Basu also said there is still no evidence to suggest Khan acted with anyone else in the attack.
Here's more from Neil Basu's statement, in which he pays tribute to the "truly incredible acts of bravery" by members of the public and police officers:
Whilst we’re still piecing together the exact details of what happened, what is already clear is that this cowardly act was immediately countered by some truly incredible acts of bravery by both members of the public and police officers.
We know the attacker was attending an event, called “Learning Together” and some of those present at that event confronted the attacker to try and stop him. The attacker then left the building and ended up on London Bridge, he was pursued and detained by members of the public, as well as a British Transport Police officer who was in plain clothes, before armed officers from both the City of London and Metropolitan Police arrived, confronted the attacker and shot him.
The actions of the police and the public are all the more remarkable as we now know that the attacker was wearing what looked like a very convincing explosive device. Thankfully, we now know it be a hoax device.
Police are awaiting confirmation from the coroner before identifying the two victims - a man and a woman - who were killed during the attack, although the man has been named online as Jack Merritt.
Two women and a man remain in hospital.
Mr Basu said: "Of course, I am fully aware that the media and social media have named one of those victims. You must understand that I need to wait for formal identification from the Coroner. I will provide an update as soon as I can.
“On behalf of the entire policing family, I would like to offer my heartfelt thoughts and condolences to all those families, both deceased and who still remain in hospital, and everyone affected by this tragedy."
The Metropolitan Police continue to appeal for any witnesses to the attack in Fishmongers Hall to come forward.
Neil Basu said in his statement:
Officers from the Counter Terrorism Command have been working flat out with our security services as you would expect as we continue to try and establish the full circumstances of what happened.
At this time, we have found no evidence to suggest anybody else was involved in this attack. However, we are still making extensive enquiries to ensure there were no other people involved. Our investigative priority at this time is to ensure that there is no related outstanding threat to the public.
To this end, we have carried out two searches at addresses both in the Staffordshire and Stoke areas. Our officers are being supported with this by officers from Staffordshire and the West Midlands Counter Terrorism Police. I would like to thank them, as well as the local community in those areas, for the support they’ve shown as we carry out these crucial enquiries.
The investigation team has also spoken to many of those who were present at Fishmongers’ Hall, but I would appeal to anyone who was there on Friday, or anyone who hasn’t been spoken to, to contact police on 0800 789 321 immediately.
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