Fishmongers' Hall terrorist Usman Khan was unlikely to have been released from prison by a Parole Board because of his disruptive behaviour, police officer tells inquest

  • Usman Khan was 'unlikely to have been released from prison by parole board'
  • Police officer told inquest Khan's behaviour in prison was consistently poor
  • He was regarded as high-risk and interested in views of Islamist extremists
  • But sentence was varied on appeal, meaning he did not need board approval
  • Khan was released in December 2019 and launched atrocity 11 months later 

By Jack Wright For Mailonline

Published: | Updated:

Fishmongers' Hall terrorist Usman Khan was unlikely to have been released from prison by a Parole Board because of his disruptive behaviour, a senior police officer today told an inquest into the jihadist's death.  

Detective Chief Inspector Dan Brown, who is leading the investigation into the convicted terrorist, said the 28-year-old's behaviour was consistently poor during much of his time behind bars in HMP Whitemoor.

Khan was arrested in December 2010 and sentenced to 16 years in jail after he eventually admitted planning to set up a terrorist training camp in Pakistan and plotting to bomb the London Stock Exchange.

Though he was regarded as one of the most high-risk inmates across the prison estate, Khan's sentence was varied on appeal - meaning he no longer needed the approval of the Parole Board before his release.

The jihadist, from Staffordshire, was released on Christmas Eve 2018, to complete the rest of his sentence on licence in the community. 

Less than a year later, Khan fatally stabbed Cambridge graduates Jack Merritt, 25, and Saskia Jones, 23, at a prisoner education event at Fishmongers' Hall in the City of London. He was later shot to death by armed police.

Giving evidence at the inquest, Mr Brown described how Khan became interested in the views of extremists Anwar al-Awlaki and Anjem Choudary, and had repeatedly been involved in violence while in prison. 

Undated police photo shown in court in April 2021 of Usman Khan in Cambridge in March 2019
Undated handout file photo issued by West Midlands Police of Usman Khan

Fishmongers' Hall terrorist Usman Khan was unlikely to have been released from prison by a Parole Board because of his disruptive behaviour, a police officer has told an inquest

Detective Chief Inspector Dan Brown said 28-year-old Khan's was consistently poor during much of his eight years in jail in HMP Whitemoor in Cambridgeshire

Detective Chief Inspector Dan Brown said 28-year-old Khan's was consistently poor during much of his eight years in jail in HMP Whitemoor in Cambridgeshire

At various points, extremist literature and some household items which could be used to construct a bomb were found in his cell, while he was also found in possession of a blade, the home address of a governor, and had been planning to break through to a neighbouring cell. 

Giving evidence to jurors at the Guildhall in the City, Mr Brown said: 'Generally speaking, his behaviour was fairly poor. He was disruptive... and there was intelligence to suggest he was responsible for radicalising others.' 

Mr Brown agreed that the decision to vary Khan's original indeterminate sentence was significant, because his behaviour in prison was unlikely to have satisfied a parole board. 

The police officer said Khan was the second youngest of seven children, and was raised in Stoke-on-Trent. However, various claims from Khan's childhood - including that he was expelled from school at the age of 12 or 13 - could not be verified.

The inquest heard one former teacher described Khan as 'fairly unremarkable'.

Mr Brown, recalling a police interview with the staff member, said: 'He (Khan) had a teenage swagger, a little bit of a chip on his shoulder. But fairly unremarkable.' 

Khan was chased onto nearby London Bridge on November 29, 2019 and pinned to the ground by members of the public brandishing a fire extinguisher and a narwhal tusk, before exposing a fake suicide belt on his waist. 

Khan stabbed Cambridge graduates Jack Merritt, 25, (left) and Saskia Jones, 23, at a prisoner education event in Central London in November 2019

Khan stabbed Cambridge graduates Jack Merritt, 25, (left) and Saskia Jones, 23, at a prisoner education event in Central London in November 2019

Police giving evidence at Khan's inquest previously described how they were trained to treat devices as viable until proven otherwise. Pictured, the fake suicide vest

Police giving evidence at Khan's inquest previously described how they were trained to treat devices as viable until proven otherwise. Pictured, the fake suicide vest

The terrorist is alleged to have shouted 'Allahu Akbar' after first being shot by police, before writhing around on the ground for eight minutes, then sitting upright and staring at firearms officers who opened fire. 

He was shot at 20 times by police and was declared dead at the scene, jurors heard.

Yesterday the inquest heard how the suicide belt Khan wore when he was shot to death by police was 'an elaborate hoax' which looked like a realistic device capable of mass destruction and death.

Khan was said to have used items including parts from an Xbox controller, an Energizer battery charger, cling film, bandages, Gorilla Glue and a weightlifting belt to fashion the device he wore under his coat. 

Police giving evidence at Khan's inquest previously described how they were trained to treat devices as viable until proven otherwise.

The Fishmongers' Hall terrorist fled to London Bridge, where he was shot at 20 times by police

The Fishmongers' Hall terrorist fled to London Bridge, where he was shot at 20 times by police

Wiring thought to be part of fake suicide vest
Wiring allegedly part of fake suicide vest

Wiring detectives believe was part of the fake suicide vest 

Matthew Middleditch, the technical lead of the Met's explosives ordnance disposal unit, described how he agreed with a report from the UK's Bomb Disposal Centre that Khan's device was 'an elaborate hoax, with what appears to be some effort made to manufacture a reasonable facsimile of a suicide belt'.

Mr Middleditch told the inquest: 'I would agree with that statement entirely. The make up is a very good facsimile of a person-borne IED'.

He said it compared well with real devices he had seen during his quarter-century career as an explosives expert, including several years serving with the military in Iraq and Afghanistan.

He added: 'With the experience I have, I wouldn't be able to recognise it (Khan's) as a hoax without carrying out further examination of it. I would have thought I was looking at a real person-borne IED.'

Mr Middleditch said he would not expect police officers called to the scene to have been able to differentiate between Khan's hoax and a viable device.

Jonathan Hough QC, counsel to the inquest, asked: 'Would you expect any officer to be able to recognise this device as a hoax device, whether by close inspection or by inspection from a distance?'

Mr Middleditch replied: 'No I wouldn't, sir.'   

The inquest is due to conclude later this week. 

Fishmongers' Hall inquest jury's full findings: The series of failings that left terrorist Khan free to kill

An inquest jury for the victims of the Fishmongers' Hall terror attack found 'omission or failure' in the management of Usman Khan in the community by MI5 and the police contributed to the deaths.

Asked to give a explanation for the conclusion, they issued a series of bullet points:

  • Unacceptable management and lack of accountability;
  • Serious deficiencies in the management of Khan by Mappa (Multi-Agency Public Protection Arrangements);
  • Insufficient experience and training;
  • Blind spot to Khan's unique risks due to 'poster boy' image;
  • Lack of psychological assessment post-release from prison.

At the time of his release in 2018, Khan - a convicted terrorist - was assessed as being a 'very high risk of serious harm' to the public by a prison psychologist. 

MI5 had even passed on 'uncorroborated' intelligence to police that Khan was preparing to return to his 'old ways' and that he aspired to carry out an attack. But the Mappa panel was only told of the 'old ways' strand, which was labelled 'low grade', jurors were told.

MI5 and counter-terrorism police had also launched an investigation into Khan which was still ongoing at the time of the attack. However, Khan's probation officer and the Mappa chairman were unaware of the probe.

A senior MI5 officer told the inquest jury that the intelligence service remained 'sceptical' about Khan's compliance with his licence conditions following his release, but did not counsel caution.

One of Khan's mentors recorded an incident when the terrorist became angry and then quickly covered it up. Only much later did the mentor describe being fearful at witnessing Khan with 'hate' in his eyes and 'evil intent'.

The Mappa panel, made up of largely police and probation officers, met 12 times to discuss Khan's case.

A plan for him to attend a Learning Together event in March 2019 was deemed 'too soon' and a dumper truck course was rejected due to incidents of terrorists using vehicles as weapons. However, in the summer of 2019, Khan was permitted an escorted appearance at a Learning Together event at Whitemoor prison.

When in August the proposed unescorted London event in November was put forward by the Probation Service, there was no record of it having been positively approved by Mappa. Jonathan Hough QC, for the coroner, suggested there was 'a collective blind spot' about the trip and its associated risks.

Panel chairman Nigel Byford said the decision should have been recorded in minutes but insisted no-one raised any objections about it at the time.

Sonia Flynn, executive director of the Probation Service, told jurors that the decision to allow the London trip should not have been left to one probation officer and there should have been a risk assessment.

Probation officers assigned to his case were 'inexperienced' in dealing with terrorism offenders, and did not have enough time to spend with Khan, it was claimed.

By September 2019, Khan was exhibiting some of warning signs raised by the prison psychologist in her report the year before. He had failed to find a job and was increasingly socially isolated, spending much of his time at home playing on his Xbox.

From the time Khan moved out of approved premises and into a rented flat, Prevent police officers visited him twice, spending just 18 minutes with him, the court heard.

The security services learned of the London trip in November 2019, just 11 days before the event. In her evidence, the senior MI5 officer conceded that a discussion around the risks at the joint operations team meeting 'would have been helpful'.

But she said it would have taken 24/7 surveillance to have foiled the lone wolf knife attack, which would have been unwarranted on the information they had at the time.

Learning Together co-founder Dr Ruth Armstrong said she was unaware of intelligence on Khan and had she known, he would not have been invited to Fishmongers' Hall.

Jurors were told the organisation made no risk assessment of the event beforehand. Research associate Simon Larmour, who accompanied Khan from Euston station on the morning of the attack, said he only knew of his terror conviction through a Google search.

Staff at Fishmongers' Hall said they were not warned that a convicted terrorist was among the delegates. There were no bag searches on the door or knife arches at the venue, jurors heard.

Counter-terrorism prison security governor Steve Machin, who was among the guests, noticed Khan was wearing a bulky coat, which it later transpired concealed a fake suicide vest. He told jurors he was not in a work 'headspace' so accepted Khan's 'plausible' explanation.

Later that day, Khan strapped knives to his hands and fatally stabbed Saskia Jones and Jack Merritt before being shot dead on London Bridge.

Previously, the Mappa panel had regarded Khan's association with offender educational group Learning Together as positive and something to be encouraged.  

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