Info - Viral - Fun One of the victims of yesterday's London Bridge terror attack has been named by his father.
Jack Merritt, 25, from Cottenham, was the course co-ordinator for Learning Together, the education scheme run by the University of Cambridge's Institute of Criminology that killer Usman Khan had been yesterday afternoon.
The group had been running a conference at Fishmonger's Hall where the attack started, with Khan one of the former criminals attending the rehabilitation seminar for prisoners.
His father David said in a tweet that his son 'would not wish his death to be used as the pretext for more draconian sentences or for detaining people unnecessarily'.
R.I.P. Jack: you were a beautiful spirit who always took the side of the underdog.'
He also said his son had been a 'champion' for those who had been 'dealt a losing hand by life, who ended up in the prison system'.
Giving a statement outside Scotland Yard, Metropolitan Police Assistant Commissioner Neil Basu said 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'.
David said: 'Jack spoke so highly of all the people he worked with & he loved his job.
'Thank you for your support. I know his colleagues are in shock- please look after each other at this terrible time.'
Jack studied law at Manchester University before doing an postgraduate degree at Cambridge.
A woman was also killed and three others were injured in the knife rampage carried out by Usman Khan.
Police were called to the north side of London Bridge at 1.58pm on Friday, after reports of a stabbing near Bank station and Fishmongers' Hall, which was hosting an event called 'Learning Together'.
Khan had threatened to blow up the building at the start of the rampage before he headed towards London Bridge wearing a fake suicide vest.
Minutes later, witnesses saw the knifeman being wrestled to the ground by members of the public before armed-response officers confronted him at 2.03pm and shot him dead.
Two brave members of the public chased after the knifeman, one armed with a narwhal tusk and another with a fire extinguisher.
Armed police, who confronted the suspect at 2.03pm, were heard shouting 'stop moving' twice before shooting the man at close range.
The workshop run by Jack featured storytelling and creative writing moments before Khan began his attack.
Khan had previously participated in Cambridge University's Learning Together prisoner rehabilitation sessions but had showed 'no cause for concern,' a source with knowledge of the programme said.
The conference was posted on eventbrite and stated that it was 'a day to celebrate, connect and collaborate'.
Workshops included interactive storytelling and creative writing workshops, and a panel discussion was due to take place on 'the power of education for social justice'.
According to the Learning Together schedule of the day, Khan began his terror spree during the storytelling and creative writing session.
Academics and criminal justice campaigners tweeted about the day at the grade II listed building and a photograph was posted online of the gathering.
The 28-year-old attacker is understood to have been invited to share his experience of prison and wore black clothing and sand-coloured boots, according to The Times.
A witness named Coralie said around 100 guests and 50 staff were in attendance.
Khan returned to the hall via the grand staircase after the morning session where he later threatened to blow up the hall, a member of staff said.
He reportedly started 'lashing out' in a room downstairs and was heading upstairs when he was tackled by the other conference-goers and 'bundled out' of the front door past a room of unarmed people.
According to the source, all those involved in tackling Khan, with the exception of the man reported to be a Polish chef, were ex-offenders.
At the time of the incident they were all either on day release, or had been released on licence.
One of the group was James Ford, who admitted the murder of a woman with the mental age of a 15-year-old, in 2014.
Amanda Champion, 21, was strangled and slashed across the throat by Ford in a completely random attack in Ashford, Kent.
Ford was caught after a Samaritans worker broke a vow of anonymity to tell police that a man who had phoned the confidential service 45 times had confessed to killing a woman.
The source said that risk assessment is 'front and centre' in the Learning Together programme, due to the involvement of students.
They added that normal procedures by police and probation service had been undertaken with Khan and he had shown 'no cause for concern' up until the moment of the incident.
0 Comments