London Bridge terrorist Usman Khan ‘wrote thank-you poem to rehab programme’ he attacked

Ross McGuinness
Updated ·3 min read
Usman Khan was pictured in a brochure for a rehabilitation scheme (Picture: Learning Together)
Usman Khan was reportedly pictured in a brochure for a rehabilitation scheme (Learning Together)

The London Bridge terrorist wrote a poem and a thank-you note to the prisoner rehabilitation programme he later attacked, it has been reported.

Usman Khan, 28, was shot dead by police on Friday after killing two people and injuring three others in a stabbing spree while wearing a fake suicide vest.

Saskia Jones, 23, and Jack Merritt, 25, two former University of Cambridge students, were killed in the attack at Fishmongers’ Hall in London. A vigil will be held for the victims on Monday morning.

London Bridge attacker Usman Khan's poem was printed in a rehabilitation initiative's literature (Picture: Learning Together)
London Bridge attacker Usman Khan's poem was printed in a rehabilitation initiative's literature (Learning Together)

Khan had been a “case study” for Learning Together, the university’s programme providing education for prisoners at HMP Whitemoor in Cambridgeshire, The Telegraph reported.

He was imprisoned there before his release on licence in December last year.

Members of public leave flowers and goodbye notes at the scene of November 29 2019 London Bridge terror attack in London, England, December 1, 2019. After three days of investigation London Bridge remains closed and number of police forces watch the site. Two people were killed in the attack and a number was injured. (Photo by Dominika Zarzycka/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
Floral tributes to victims were left near the scene of the London Bridge terror attack (Getty)
Forensic personnel searching for fingerprints at the cordoned off area on London Bridge in central London, after a terrorist wearing a fake suicide vest who went on a knife rampage killing two people, was shot dead by police on Friday. (Photo by Yui Mok/PA Images via Getty Images)
Forensic personnel searching for fingerprints at the cordoned-off area on London Bridge in central London after the attack (PA/Getty)

The Telegraph reported that Khan appeared in a recent brochure for the rehabilitation initiative, in which he thanked the scheme for providing him with a “secure” laptop computer.

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He said: “I cannot send enough thanks to the entire Learning Together team and all those who continue to support this wonderful community.”

In his poem, Khan wrote: “I write so my words become a soothing light, I write so I can enter the coldest of hearts, I write so I can speak to those locked off, From the world engulfed in the blinding absence of sight, I write so I can express what I feel is right.”

Usman Khan was shot dead by police after carrying out a terrorist attack at London Bridge on Friday (Picture: PA)
Usman Khan was shot dead by police after carrying out a terrorist attack at London Bridge on Friday (PA)

On Monday morning, a vigil will be held for the victims of Friday’s terror attack and the emergency services and members of the public who tackled Khan before he was shot dead by police.

Previously, Khan had claimed he wanted to be deradicalised and become a “good British citizen”.

Khan, who was living in Stafford, was given permission to travel into the heart of London by police and the probation service.

Convicted of terror offences in February 2012, he was released from prison on licence in December 2018, halfway through his 16-year prison sentence.

The attack on Friday was carried out by convicted terrorist Usman Khan (Picture: PA)
The attack on Friday was carried out by convicted terrorist Usman Khan (PA)

He launched the fatal attack at a Learning Together event just before 2pm on Friday.

Armed with two knives and wearing a fake suicide vest, he was tackled by members of the public, including ex-offenders from the conference, among them a murderer on day release, before he was shot dead by police.

One of the three people injured in the attack has been allowed to return home while the other two remain in a stable condition in hospital.