Finsbury Park attacker 'wanted to kill as many Muslims as possible'

A man who drove a van into a crowd near a mosque intended to kill as many Muslims as possible and had been “brainwashed” by extremist right wing propaganda after watching a primetime BBC drama about a Muslim grooming gang, a jury has heard.

Darren Osborne, 48, denies murdering Makram Ali,51, and trying to murder others as they left a mosque in Finsbury Park, north London, on 19 June.

The prosecution claims the act was a terrorist one driven by Osborne’s hatred of Muslims, which his partner said developed rapidly in the weeks before the attack, leaving Osborne “a ticking time bomb”.

Osborne drove the van into a crowd of people, some wearing traditional Islamic clothing, flinging some several metres and leaving one with life-changing injuries. Ali died an hour after being run over.

The attack came after London and Manchester had suffered terrorist attacks blamed on Islamist ideology. A note recovered from the van Osborne had driven down from Wales railed against Muslims and also attacked London mayor Sadiq Khan and Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn.

The jury at Woolwich crown court heard after the attack Osborne had been saved by an imam, who protected him despite his attempt to run down Muslims. Osborne was also seen to smile and say: “I’ve done my bit.”

Opening the case, Jonathan Rees QC, told the jury: “The evidence establishes that the defendant was trying to kill as many of the group as possible.

“...The prosecution say that the note and the comments he made after his detention establish that this act of extreme violence was, indeed, an act of terrorism, designed to influence government and intimidate the Muslim community, and done for the purpose of advancing a political, religious, ideological or racial cause.”

The attack happened barely one hundred yards away from a mosque, and Ali had become ill and fallen to floor two minutes before Osborne struck. It was just after 12.15am and Muslims were thronging the streets of Finsbury Park, north London, after prayers at two nearby mosques to mark the festival of Ramadan.

Rees said: “To seek to kill someone merely because of their religion is a terrible thing. And what makes this act particularly horrific is that the group he drove into had gathered in the street in order to help Makram Ali, the deceased, who had collapsed as he walked along Seven Sisters Road a couple of minutes before the defendant carried out his attack.”

Rees told the jury that one witness heard the van “accelerate and the noise of changing gears” as the engine revved up.

Ali’s family were in court and were visibly moved as they watched CCTV footage of the attack.

Ali was found by a pathologist to have been alive when Osborne’s hired van struck him. Rees told the jury: “Makram Ali was run over by the van and his body moved a short distance. He appeared dead. There was a tyre mark across his torso and his tongue was hanging out.”

The prosecution said Osborne did not show remorse after the attack, but was heard by witnesses to say: “I’ve done my job. You can kill me now.” Rees said a witness claimed the attacker was “constantly smiling”.

Rees said Osborne was seen hitting out at people as he tried to escape the throng, and said: “I want to kill more Muslims.”

An imam stepped in to save Osborne and Rees told the jury: “So, it was a Muslim who stepped in to save the defendant from suffering any further violence.”

Investigators spoke to Osborne’s partner Sarah Andrews, who said that in the weeks before the attack his attitude changed after he watched Three Girls, a BBC TV drama about the Rochdale grooming scandal. He also read extremist rightwing propaganda online that left him “brainwashed” and a “ticking time bomb”.

The jury heard that Andrews said in a witness statement that Osborne had become “obsessed” with Muslims and an avid follower of social media postings by the former EDL leader Tommy Robinson, as well as members of the far-right group, Britain First.

The jury heard the pair had watched Three Girls and, in her statement, Andrews said she believed Osborne had become angry “about seeing young girls exploited” and developed his fixation with Muslims from that point.

“In recent weeks, he has become obsessed with Muslims, accusing them all of being rapists and being part of paedophile gangs,” she said.

Later, she added that Osborne “seemed brainwashed” and had been watching content posted online by Robinson and a woman she thought may be the deputy leader of Britain First, Jayda Fransen, leading him to seek out more online.

Smartphones and computers showed Osborne viewing material from Britain First, that “campaigns primarily against multi-culturalism and what it sees as the Islamisisation of the UK”, Rees told the jury.

Rees said that, according to Osborne’s partner, he had not worked for a decade and had mental health issues. He added: “Ms Andrews says that the defendant has an unpredictable temperament; she describes him as a loner and a functioning alcoholic.”

Weeks before the attack Osborne tried to kill himself and felt worthless.

The jury heard that Osborne had written a note about his motivation for the attack. It had been found in the van and bore his fingerprints. It railed against the terrorist attacks in London and Manchester in the preceding months, and the Rotherham child abuse scandal.

It also said “Islam’s ideology does not belong here”, and taunted Khan, Corbyn and the singer Lily Allen, jurors heard.

The jury heard that Osborne spent the night before the incident in a pub, where he was heard to say he was “going to kill all the Muslims” and to accuse all Muslims of being terrorists.

The trial continues.