Westminster terror survivors slam 'sick' bystanders who took pictures instead of helping

Bystanders who stopped to take gory pictures of victims of the Westminster terror attack rather than be helping have been slammed by survivors.

Images taken with mobiles and selfie sticks and posted on social media served to add to the distress of the victims’ families, the Old Bailey heard.

Pictures included graphic images of Aysha Frade’s body beneath the wheels of a bus as well as pictures of Romanian interior designer Andreea Cristea as she lay face down and unconscious in the Thames for five minutes.

Student Travis Frain, 20, who was among the injured, was not called to give evidence at the inquest but told the Press Association he remembered people filming and taking pictures after he was hit by Khalid Masood’s hired SUV.

Mr Frain, a student at Edge Hill University in Ormskirk, in Lancashire, said: “I remember almost immediately after I was hit by the car there were lines of people in the windows of the bus filming and taking pictures and video.

“It was not nice. I would like to think most people would help but I think in this day and age the natural reaction for a lot of people is to get out your camera and start filming.

MORE: Headteacher: Young people must choose between ‘trivial nonsense’ like Love Island and serious matters like #MeToo
MORE: Donald Trump ‘earned £154k a year as a toddler’ as newspaper accuses President’s father of tax dodging

He added: “It’s a bit of a sick reaction. It’s not everyone. There were some amazing people who ran over to help us and the people on the bus would not have been able to get off the bus. I think personally I would not just sit there as a spectator taking videos.”

Mr Frain also described being trolled online following the attack, receiving death threats and abuse apparently sparked by footage of him hobbling away. He said he had reported the abuse but nobody had been charged.

Gareth Patterson QC, representing families of the victims on the bridge, told the inquest graphic pictures of Aysha Frade’s body beneath the wheels of a bus showed a “rather shocking disregard” for the dignity of casualties.

He said: “Despite efforts to have them taken down because of the distress caused, to this day there are images on the internet.”

As well as the four fatalities on the bridge, 29 others suffered serious injuries from being struck by Khalid Masood’s hired SUV.

Lawyer Jill Greenfield, head of personal injury at Fieldfisher, is representing Andreea Cristea’s boyfriend Andrei Burnaz and others whose lives have been shattered by the events of March 22 last year.

She said: “What has, at times, been the most despicable behaviour illustrates the worst side of social media by providing a platform to air derogatory comments.

“Such comments and the arbitrary use of personal information perpetuates the trauma for those already suffering the atrocity of terrorism.

“Terrorism works on enough levels of harm without social media adding to that pain.”

She added: “Our client Andrei Burnaz was extremely upset when the press ransacked his and Andreea’s Facebook accounts and published personal pictures and information.”

None of the graphic CCTV or pictures shown at the Old Bailey inquest was released to the public.