Streatham terror attack – live: ‘My son was radicalised in prison’, attacker’s mother says amid calls to end automatic release of terrorists
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The Isis supporter who stabbed two people in a terror attack on a south London high street has been named as 20-year-old Sudesh Amman.
Scotland Yard confirmed Amman was under surveillance at the time of the Streatham attack, having only been released from prison days ago after being jailed in 2018 for disseminating terrorist material and collecting information useful for terror attacks.
Counterterror police have raided a probation hostel in London and a Hertfordshire property but no arrests have yet been made, while mayor Sadiq Khan expressed anger at Boris Johnson’s government over its failure to prevent the “foreseeable and preventable” attack.
The male victim who was stabbed in the attack is no longer in a life-threatening condition, while one woman, in her fifties, was discharged from hospital late on Sunday. Another woman, in her twenties, is believed to have been struck by shattered glass and was receiving treatment, police said.
His mother, Haleema Faraz Khan, told Sky News that he was a “nice, polite boy” and that he had become more religious in prison.
Ms Khan said she believed her son had come radicalised while in HMP Belmarsh, where concerns have previously been raised over Islamist extremism and networking between terrorist prisoners.
The justice minister is expected to announce “fundamental changes” to how the UK imprisons convicted terrorists on Monday evening, but it was not immediately clear how the measures would go beyond the 2019 Counter Terrorism and Border Security Act – which ended automatic early release for a host of terror offences.
This is The Independent's live coverage of events in the wake of the Streatham terror attack.
Attacker was convicted terror offender
The knife attacker who stabbed two people in south London before being shot dead by police has been named as a convicted terror offender who was released from prison days ago, Peter Stubley and The Independent's home affairs and security correspondent Lizzie Dearden report.
Isis supporter Sudesh Amman was just 18 when he was jailed in December 2018 after police found a stash of bomb-making manuals and other propaganda.
Amman, now 20, had declared his own wish to carry out a terror attack and stockpiled a combat knife, air gun and black flag at his family home in London.
The North West London College student even told his girlfriend of his allegiance to Isis and encouraged her to behead her own parents because they were non-Muslims.
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Police search two properties but no arrests yet made
Counterterror detectives are searching two properties – a bail hostel in Streatham and another property in Hertfordshire.
"No arrests have been made and enquiries continue at pace," Scotland Yard said.
Sudesh Amman had been living in a nearby bail hostel for less than a fortnight after his early release from prison.
The manager of the hostel on Leigham Court Road told the Press Association he had last seen Amman on Friday, adding: "He didn't speak much."
The hostel manager, who did not want to be named, said: "I didn't have much to do with him. I don't really get involved with these guys. Everyone has their own rooms in there. The last time I saw him I was doing his radiator, setting up his heating on Friday."
He spoke as police continued to search the three-storey building.
Government to announce 'fundamental changes' to prison
“Tomorrow we will also be announcing some fundamental changes … to deal with counterterrorism and counterterrorist offenders,” Priti Patel said on Sunday.
The home secretary said the measures would help to end the early release of those convicted of terror offences.
Tories implored to 'take responsibility' as minister denies cuts fuelling problem
Chief secretary to the Treasury Rishi Sunak has faced tough questioning over his party's perceived failure to stop the early release of those convicted of terror-related offences.
“This man was convicted under a Conservative government and released under a Conservative government,” Julia Hartley-Brewer said. “After 10 years in power, is it not time that this government takes responsibility for these people.”
“Well Julia, it does take a new act of parliament – a new law – to change existing laws," Mr Sunak replied. "Since the prime minister’s taken office, he’s someone who’s a new prime minister and is someone who has got a long track record of saying we should stop early release of prisoners.
“As soon as he became prime minister he recommitted to it in August, a month after taking office.”
He added: “This is a priority piece of business for us.”
Speaking on Good Morning Britain, the minister also denied that cuts to prisons and probation services played a key role in the problem.
“The counter-terrorism budget, which is what we’re dealing with here, has actually been increased every year for the last five or six years," The Guardian reported him as saying.
“It is now up 30 per cent or 40 per cent from where it was several years ago. And we just announced a 10 per cent increase, taking to almost £1bn for the forthcoming year.”
Sadiq Khan angered by 'foreseeable and preventable' nature of attack
Referring to the London Bridge attack in 2019, London's mayor described his anger that "some of the reassurances we were given by the government in November haven't been realised".
"I've been frustrated for some time about changes in the law in 2012 that took away from judges the power they used to have to give a sentence to protect the public – an indeterminate sentence – and to make sure people weren't released unless we knew they were no longer a danger," Mr Khan said on BBC Radio 4.
"It's really important that the questions I've got for the government are answered and speedy action taken".
Victim no longer in a life-threatening condition
Three victims were taken by ambulance to south London hospitals
One man, in his forties, received treatment and is no longer considered to be in a life-threatening condition, the Metropolitan Police confirmed to The Independent.
A woman in her fifties who had non-life threatening injuries was discharged from hospital on Sunday.
A second woman in her twenties who suffered minor injuries, believed to have been caused by glass following the discharge of a police firearm, continues to receive treatment, police told the Press Association.
Boris Johnson says 'difficulty' is stopping automatic early release for those who already qualify
"I think the question that everybody has about the individual concerned is 'what was he doing out on automatic early release and why was there no system of scrutiny – no parole system to check whether he was really a suitable candidate' ... that is a very complex legal question," the prime minister said, during a south London speech mainly about the future of UK-EU trade.
Mr Johnson said the government was bringing forward legislation to stop automatic early releases but "the difficulty is how to apply that retrospectively to the cohort of people who currently qualify".
"We do think it's time to take action to ensure that people, irrespective of the law we're bringing in, do not qualify for automatic early release, people convicted of terrorist act offences," he added.
The justice secretary is due to make an announcement on new measures shortly.
Breaking: Isis claims responsibility for attack
The group issued a generically-worded statement on its official propaganda channels on Monday morning saying the stabbing was carried out by an Isis “soldier”, The Independent's home affairs and security correspondent Lizzie Dearden reports.
It said he was responding to calls for attacks on citizens of countries bombing Isis in Syria and Iraq.
Isis’s statement contained no new details of the attack or the perpetrator, meaning it may have been based on media reports rather than direct communication with Sudesh Amman.
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