London Bridge attack: Hero nurse stabbed to death as she tried to help another victim, inquest hears
Boyfriend tells court he is 'still in awe of her bravery'
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An Australian nurse was stabbed to death by terrorists after she ran to help another victim of the London Bridge attack, an inquest has heard.
Relatives of 28-year-old Kirsty Boden said they were "in awe of her bravery" in the June 2017 atrocity, when she was one of eight people killed.
The Old Bailey heard she was inside a restaurant with friends when she heard what she believed to be an accidental car crash, and went to investigate.
But Ms Boden was unwittingly walking into the path of three Isis-inspired terrorists, who had mowed down pedestrians on London Bridge before crashing their van and launching a knife rampage.
The court was shown CCTV of Ms Boden motioning to her friends to stay back before seeing victim Alexandre Pigeard bleeding on the ground.
Crowds gather for vigil honouring victims of London Bridge attack
Show all 8The nurse bent down to help when she was subjected to a sustained attack, running into an alleyway before collapsing and dying of her injuries.
Her British partner, James Hodder, told the court: "Her actions on that night didn't surprise anyone who knew her. To Kirsty it would not have seemed brave.
“She loved people and loved her life helping others. To Kirsty, her actions that night would have been an extension of how she lived her life. We are so unspeakably proud of her.”
At the time she was stabbed to death, Ms Boden was working as a senior staff nurse at Guy's and St Thomas' Hospital in central London.
Her father, Ken Boden, said: "We miss Kirsty every second of the day. There is a hole in our hearts that will never heal."
The other victims killed were Christine Archibald, 30, Xavier Thomas, 45, Mr Pigeard, 26, Sara Zelenak, 21, Sebastien Belanger, 36, James McMullan, 32, and Ignacio Echeverria, 39.
A total of 48 other people were seriously injured in what chief coroner Mark Lucraft called 10 minutes of “high and terrible drama”.
Spanish financial crime analyst Mr Echeverria hit the terrorists with a skateboard to save a woman's life before he was stabbed to death, the court heard.
The man Ms Boden tried to help, Mr Pigeard, was murdered while “rushing to see if he could help” victims of what he believed to be an accidental crash.
French chef Sebastien Belanger, 36, had been drinking at Boro Bistro and was cornered by all three of the attackers but “bravely fought back” before being stabbed to death.
Another Frenchman, 45-year-old Xavier Thomas, became the first victim of the attack when he was struck by the terrorists' van and thrown into the River Thames.
The father-of-two was walking with his girlfriend Christine Delcros on the first day of their holiday in London, and called his teenage son seconds before being killed.
The van repeatedly mounted the pavement on London Bridge, killing the second victim as she walked alongside her fiance.
The court heard that Canadian social worker Christine Archibald, 30, had kissed her husband-to-be and told him “I love you” moments before being killed.
Her fiance, Tyler Ferguson, said they were “very much looking forward” to spending the rest of their lives together and starting a family.
Australian au pair Sara Zelenak was on a ”trip of a lifetime“ when she was knifed to death while on a night out with a friend nearby, her family said.
And dual British-Filipino national James McMullan, 32, had been celebrating getting financial backing for his online education company when he was murdered.
The 32-year-old been watching the football match with friends in The Barrowboy and Banker pub when he went outside for a cigarette and was caught in the attack.
Their attackers, Khuram Butt, 27, Rachid Redouane, 30, and Youssef Zaghba, 22, were shot dead by police at the scene.
The court heard that the terrorists had taped 12ins ceramic kitchen knives to their wrists and were wearing fake suicide vests.
Their deaths will be examined before a jury, in separate inquests coming after an estimated eight weeks of hearings for their victims.
Please allow a moment for the live blog to load
Good morning and welcome to our live coverage of the London Bridge attack inquests, which will open at the Old Bailey at 10.15am today.
Chief coroner Mark Lucraft QC will deliver a short opening speech before hearing “pen portraits” of the victims from their loved ones.
Hearings expected to last eight weeks will examine how the eight victims were killed, before a separate inquest into the deaths of the three attackers.
Three women and five men died when Khuram Butt, Youssef Zaghba and Rachid Redouane ploughed into crowds in a van before stabbing people in pubs, restaurants and the street in a rampage from London Bridge to Borough Market on 3 June 2017.
The victims were Christine Archibald, 30, Xavier Thomas, 45, Alexandre Pigeard, 26, Sara Zelenak, 21, Kirsty Boden, 28, Sebastien Belanger, 36, James McMullan, 32, and Ignacio Echeverria, 39.
The inquest is expected to examine why there were still no barriers to protect pedestrians on London Bridge by 3 June, almost three months after Khalid Masood launched the UK's first Isis-claimed attack with a car on Westminster Bridge.
Families will also want answers over Butt was able to plan and carry out the attack while he was under investigation by security services.
Another issue likely to be raised by lawyers acting for the relatives of the victims is the lack of security checks required to hire rental vehicles after cars and lorries were used as weapons in Nice, Berlin and Westminster Bridge.
In the coming weeks, the court will hear from witnesses, the family and friends of the attackers, and a senior MI5 officer.
Other evidence is expected to include CCTV footage of the attacks and the terrorists' movements, body-worn video from police officers and footage from members of the public caught up in the carnage.
The start of the inquests has been slightly delayed but we should be underway shortly
The inquests are now getting underway. The chief coroner of England and Wales, Mark Lucraft QC, is explaining the purpose of the hearings.
"The events we are to examine took place in the heart of London, a short distance from this building ... nobody is on trial here. An inquest does not decide matters of civil or criminal or liability - this inquest is a way of establishing facts."
Mr Lucraft says coroners' inquests allow families to get answers where there is no criminal investigation
"The lives of many people were torn apart by what took place in less than 10 minutes of high and terrible drama ... in addition to the eight people killed, 48 more were seriously injured. It is important to recognise that many lives were saved by the rapid response of members of the public and the emergency services."
Judge Lucraft says the inquest will hear from survivors, witnesses, members of the emergency services and police
3 June 2017 was the night of the Champions' League final and the attack started around half an hour after the match concluded, and people had been watching it in bars in the area
"I hope this inquest will provide answers to the obvious and understandable questions that the families of those that died have," he says.
A white Renault van was driven south across London Bridge and repeatedly mounted the pavement to strike people, killing Xavier Thomas and Christine Archibald and seriously injuring several others.
It then crashed into the railings outside the Barrowboy and Banker pub and the three attackers jumped out armed with 12in knives that were taped to their wrists. They had items designed to look like IEDs attached to their bodies
The three attackers then started "indiscriminately stabbing" people around Borough Market, the court hears
That is how the other six victims died
Xavier Thomas, 45, was walking across the bridge with his fiance when he was struck by the van and thrown into the river. His body was found days later.
Judge Lucraft said he was a French national who arrived in London on the day of the attack to meet his partner of two years, and had two children from a previous marriage
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