A furious political row is emerging today after it emerged the London Bridge terrorist was released automatically from prison last year.
Usman Khan, 28, was jailed in 2012 for terrorism offences for his part in an al Qaeda-inspired terror group that plotted to bomb the London Stock Exchange and build a terrorist training camp on land in Pakistan-controlled Kashmir owned by his family.
The Stoke-on-Trent-based radical, along with two co-conspirators, originally received an indeterminate sentence for public protection with a minimum of eight years behind bars, meaning he would remain locked up for as long as it was felt necessary to protect the public.
But this sentence was quashed at the Court of Appeal in April 2013 and he was given a determinate 16-year jail term, meaning he would be automatically released after eight years.
Judges including Lord Justice Leveson said at the time when reversing the original sentence that the Parole Board was best placed to decide when he would be safe to be released from jail.
But today the Parole Board has released a statement saying they had no interference and Khan was released automatically.
He was released on licence in December 2018 and was still wearing a monitoring tag at the time of yesterday’s attack which he carried out while wearing a fake suicide vest.
Boris Johnson said it was a ‘mistake’ to release the London Bridge terrorist from prison last year
Speaking before chairing a meeting of the Government’s emergency committee Cobra on Friday night, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said he had ‘long argued’ that criminals should not be released early.
Usman Khan, 28, was jailed in 2012 for terrorism offences for his part in an al Qaida-inspired terror group
He said it is a ‘mistake to allow serious and violent criminals to come out of prison early and it is very important that we get out of that habit and that we enforce the appropriate sentences for dangerous criminals, especially for terrorists, that I think the public will want to see’.
Johnson said more police would be patrolling the streets in the coming days ‘for reassurance purposes’.
In 2013, when sentencing Khan along with two terrorists, the Court of Appeal said indeterminate sentences given to them should be replaced with fixed terms.
Lord Justice Leveson said at the time: ‘There is no doubt that anyone convicted of this type of offence could legitimately be considered dangerous.
Khan, pictured left, killed a man and a woman before he was shot dead on London Bridge yesterday
Lord Justice Leveson said the Parole Board was best placed to decide when the terrorists should be released
‘There is an argument for concluding that anyone convicted of such an offence should be incentivised to demonstrate that he can safely be released; such a decision is then better left to the Parole Board for consideration proximate in time to the date when release becomes possible.’
But the Parole Board said in a statement today: ‘We have every sympathy with those affected by the dreadful events that happened in London Bridge yesterday.
‘Given the seriousness of this attack, it is understandable that there is speculation about the attacker’s release from prison.
‘The Parole Board can confirm it had no involvement with the release of the individual identified as the attacker, who appears to have been released automatically on licence (as required by law), without ever being referred to the Board.’
Security minister Brandon Lewis refused to say whether the attack showed a ‘failure’ by authorities.
Mr Lewis repeatedly refused to comment on the specifics of the incident, but said that more assessment was needed of the sentences given to violent criminals.
‘We take what action we need to do and we believe is right under the advice of the police and look at all of the lessons learned from any case as quickly as we can to ensure people’s safety,’ he told Sky News on Saturday.
When asked how Khan was able to arm himself and launch the attack, Mr Lewis said it would be ‘inappropriate and dangerous’ to speculate on the issue.
He added that although the UK terror threat level had been recently reduced from ‘severe’ to ‘substantial’, there had been ‘no change in the posture and the work’ of police and counter-terrorism forces.
Speaking to BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, Mr Lewis said: ‘I think it is right that we do have to look again at the sentences, as I say, around these violent crimes.
Security minister Brandon Lewis (pictured) refused to say whether the attack showed a ‘failure’ by authorities
‘The Prime Minister has argued that, has made that point previously and made it very clearly last night.
‘We will want to move very swiftly because our first priority is the safety of people around the country.’
On funding for the police, Mr Lewis said: ‘Police funding for counter-terrorism policing has consistently increased since 2015. As have counter-terrorism police numbers.’
He added: ‘We will make sure that police has got the resource that it needs.
‘The Metropolitan Police is the best-funded per capita police force in the country and we will continue to ensure they have the resources they need to keep us safe.’
Mr Lewis also praised the ‘heroism’ of the members of the public and emergency service who responded to the incident on London Bridge.
Chris Phillips, a former head of the UK National Counter Terrorism Security Office, said the current criminal justice system was ‘playing Russian roulette’ with the lives of the public.
‘The criminal justice system needs to look at itself,’ he told the PA news agency.
‘We’re letting people out of prison, we’re convicting people for very, very serious offences and then they are releasing them back into society when they are still radicalised.
‘So how on earth can we ever ask our police services and our security services to keep us safe?
‘I’ve said it a few times today, we’re playing Russian roulette with people’s lives, letting convicted, known, radicalised Jihadi criminals walk about our streets.’
On whether he thought this was a ‘copycat’ on the 2017 London Bridge terrorist attack, Mr Phillips said: ‘A little bit. The thing is it’s interesting, because it happened on London Bridge, we automatically think that, but actually it’s very different from that incident.
‘This is a single man, going to a conference which I imagine he probably got paid to go to, he was there and had already planned he was going to do something at that conference.
‘It’s a terrible thing to say but if you have a terrorist incident and only two people die, we got away with it.
‘If that had been explosives, if he had exploded himself inside the conference, everyone inside could have got killed.’
Sadiq Khan said he is concerned that indeterminate sentences were scrapped, and also raised the issue of people being released on licence.
Sadiq Khan said he is concerned that indeterminate sentences were scrapped
He told Sophy Ridge on Saturday: ‘Does the Ministry of Justice, does the probation service have the powers and resources to properly supervise people who are clearly dangerous?
‘And I think these questions will be asked about this individual to make sure we find out what happened here, bu
Mr Phillips said a lack of funding for prisons could lead to the potential for more terrorist incidents similar to the events of Friday.
He told PA: ‘No-one wants to spend money on prisons.
‘If you asked a list of things that you want to spend the taxpayers’ money on, prisons would not be in the top 50.
‘However, if you don’t spend the money on the prisons, if you don’t keep people locked up, if you don’t stop radicalisation happening in prisons, then you have incidents like this.
‘And potentially another one, and another one, and another one, until something changes.’
The violence erupted less than two weeks before Britain holds a national election December 12. The main political parties temporarily suspended campaigning in London as a mark of respect.
Speaking in Number 10 last night after he interrupted his election campaign and rushed to Downing Street, Johnson said: ‘I can assure you and assure everyone that anyone involved in this crime and these attacks will be hunted down and brought to justice.’
He added that the UK would ‘never be cowed or divided or intimidated by this sort of attack and our British values will prevail’.
The Prime Minister was in his Uxbridge constituency when the attack happened.
In a statement, Metropolitan Police Assistant Commissioner Neil Basu said: ‘We are now in a position to confirm the identity of the suspect as 28-year-old Usman Khan, who had been residing in the Staffordshire area. As a result, officers are, tonight, carrying out searches at an address in Staffordshire.
‘This individual was known to authorities, having been convicted in 2012 for terrorism offences. 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.’
At the start of November the UK’s terrorism threat level was downgraded to ‘substantial’ from ‘severe’, meaning an attack was now ‘likely’ rather than ‘highly likely’.
He added: ‘I’ve just been briefed by the commissioner and the assistant commissioner of the Metropolitan Police about the events at London Bridge this afternoon.
‘And while this is an ongoing investigation, the police can confirm that this is a terrorist incident and clearly my thoughts are first with the emergency services – the police and the bravery that they showed going towards danger as they do.
‘I also want to pay tribute to the extraordinary bravery of those members of the public who physically intervened to protect the lives of others and for me they represent the very best of our country and I thank them on behalf of all of our country.’
Armed police shot a man on London Bridge today in an incident Scotland Yard is treating as ‘terror-related’.
Mr Johnson at a press conference earlier today. He had gone campaigning in Uxbridge afterwards but s now heading for Downing Street
There are five levels of terror threat, with the highest being ‘critical’ – meaning that an attack is highly likely and will come in the near future.
After dropping from the second-highest tier, severe, the UK is now on the third rung of danger.
Earlier the Prime Minister had tweeted: ‘I’m being kept updated on the incident at London Bridge and want to thank the police and all emergency services for their immediate response.’
Home Secretary Priti Patel added she was ‘very concerned’, saying: ‘Very concerned by ongoing incident at London Bridge.
‘My thoughts are with all affected. I am grateful for the rapid response of our police and I urge everyone to follow their advice.’
Home Secretary Priti Patel added she was ‘very concerned’, saying: ‘Very concerned by ongoing incident at London Bridge.
Dramatic video filmed at London Bridge around 2pm yesterday shows at least four people struggling with a man on the ground before armed police officers step in.
The officers tell the people on top of the suspect to move away, before dragging the last bystander to safety and opening fire. One of the bystanders is holding a knife which seems to have been taken from the suspect.
The suspect lies wounded on the ground, but still moving as officers back away – clearly fearing that they are still in danger, potentially from explosives.
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn tweeted: ‘Shocking reports from London Bridge.
‘My thoughts are with those caught up in the incident. Thank you to the police and emergency services who are responding.’
And London mayor Sadiq Khan added: ‘We must – and we will – stay resolute in our determination to stand strong and united in the face of terror.’
