Terrorist ‘just wanted to be loved’
Fishmongers’ Hall terror attacker Usman Khan was driven by his desire for ‘admiration’ more than political beliefs, according to a senior psychologist.
The convicted jihadi, 28, was still on license and deemed ‘high-risk’ by authorities when he targeted a prison rehabilitation event at the City of London venue on 29 November 2019.
Cambridge graduates Jack Merritt, 25, and Saskia Jones, 23, were killed and three others were left seriously injured in the atrocity.
The inquest into the victims’ deaths at London’s Guildhall today (thurs) heard details of how those working closely with the terrorist after his release from jail shared concerns about his behaviour.
Mentors and intelligence analysts monitoring Khan deemed him ‘calculating’ and ‘confident,’ making himself out to be ‘much more important than he is,’ jurors were told.
A senior psychologist, Dr Al-Attar, had assessed him as ‘superficial and full of hot air’ in 2017 – a year before his release, the inquest heard.
Then on 25 May 2018, another senior psychologist wrote that Khan’s offending seem to be driven by wanting to be perceived as ‘the man for the job’ among his fellow terrorists.
Experts were convinced that the killer’s desire for ‘admiration’ and ‘status’ motivated his violent offending more than political or moral beliefs, jurors heard today.
Reading from an email sent by the second doctor, Nick Armstrong, representing Mr Merritt’s family, said: ‘Mr Khan’s offending seems to be finally driven by social identity driver. He put himself forward to coordinate terrorists, that allowed him a strong drive to be the man for the job.
‘Whilst his goals were couched in Islamist political motives, his strong social need for admiration and acceptance… seems to be at the heart of what drives him, more than political or moral aspects.’
Jurors heard today those working closely with him had ‘different perspectives’ on whether he was genuinely engaged in the deradicalisation process.
Khan was highly ‘deceptive’ and faked compliance with the authorities, leading police, probation and Prevent teams to believe he was making good progress, jurors heard.
Giving evidence, Khan’s probation officer Ken Skelton explained how the day before the attack, he emailed prison rehabilitation programme Timpson’s Trust to recommend Khan for a job.
Mr Skelton was introduced to the trust, which puts ex-offenders forward for work within the key-cutting company, by Learning Together – the programme whose event Khan targeted on 29 November 2019.
‘I have noticed a marked difference in his behaviour, attitude and future outlook since 2016 which coincided with his engagement with Learning Together,’ the email read.
‘He would prove a good worker and a positive addition to any organisation if they were able to offer him an opportunity.
‘It is worthy of note that Mr Khan was a young 18-year-old when he became involved in the offence. He was imprisoned in 2012 and released on December 24 2018.’
Asked about the message, Mr Skelton agreed it was a source of ‘great regret’ but highlighted that decisions were made through discussions with numerous different bodies rather than falling exclusively to probation.
A Multi-agency public protection arrangements (Mappa) panel, police, counter-terrorism officers and MI5 were among the other bodies involved in managing Khan.
Probation never went against a decision made by Mappa in dealing with Khan, jurors heard.
But Mr Skelton was not made aware of an MI5 investigation into the jihadi, which he told the inquest would have had a ‘huge impact’ on his decision-making.
Referring to the day he sent the email to Timpson’s Trust, Mr Skelton added: ‘I hadn’t had a great deal of information about what was going on with attack planning or anything like that.’
The nine-week inquest continues.
