Streatham knife attacker shot dead by police was convicted terrorist with 'life goal' of 'dying a martyr'
Convicted terrorist Sudesh Amman, 20, was behind Streatham stabbing attack
Three people were injured and Amman was shot dead by police
‘Dying a martyr’ was reportedly one of his ‘life goals’
Isis has claimed responsibility for the attack
Amman had been freed from prison just days before
The convicted terrorist shot dead by police after a stabbing attack in south London had a “life goal” of “dying a martyr”.
Sudesh Amman, 20, who had recently been released from prison, stabbed people in Streatham on Sunday in what police are calling an “Islamist-related terror incident”.
Amman, who had been jailed for possessing and distributing terrorist documents in December 2018, was freed about a week ago.
Three people were injured in the attack on Streatham High Road on Sunday afternoon. A device found strapped to Amman’s body was a hoax, the Metropolitan Police said.
Amman served half his sentence after being jailed for three years and four months for terror offences in December 2018, when he was 18.
The Old Bailey heard that one of Amman’s life goals was to die a martyr.
Police found a notepad in the North West London College student’s home in Harrow, in which the phrase “life goals” had been scrawled.
“Top of the list, above family activities, was dying a martyr and going to ‘Jannah’ – the afterlife,” Alexis Boon, then head of the Metropolitan Police Counter Terrorism Command, said after Amman was jailed.
He said Amman had a “fierce interest in violence and martyrdom” and that he was fascinated with dying “in the name of terrorism”.
Amman, an Isis supporter, had posted al-Qaeda propaganda on a family WhatsApp group, exposing siblings as young as 11 to graphic material, and had shared bomb-making literature via Skype chat.
He had told his girlfriend of his wish to carry out acid attacks and that he preferred the idea of a knife attack over using bombs.
On Monday, Isis claimed responsibility for the terror attack in Streatham.
Without giving evidence, the group’s Amaq news agency said: “The perpetrator of the attack in Streatham district in south London yesterday is a fighter of Islamic State, and carried out the attack in response to calls to attack the citizens of coalition countries.”
Scotland Yard said armed officers had been following the suspect on foot as part of a "proactive counter-terrorism surveillance operation" on Streatham High Road.
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The Metropolitan Police said: "The incident was quickly declared as a terrorist incident and we believe it to be Islamist-related."
Three victims were taken by ambulance to south London hospitals.
One man in his 40s is no longer considered to be in a life-threatening condition following treatment, police said.
A woman in her 50s who had non-life threatening injuries has been discharged from hospital.
Police said a second woman in her 20s, who received minor injuries believed to have been caused by glass following the discharge of a police firearm, continues to receive treatment.
The London Ambulance Service has defended its staff after a witness tweeted that he had to stay with someone who had been stabbed for 30 minutes before an ambulance arrived.
We have heard reports that it took 30 minutes for our medics to arrive at yesterday’s incident in Streatham
We can confirm that our medics arrived in 4 minutes, and were initially directed to a rendezvous point until the police confirmed it was safe for them to approach patients pic.twitter.com/dxXPRdX5r6— London Ambulance Service (@Ldn_Ambulance) February 3, 2020
A video posted on Twitter showed a police officer trying to evacuate a Streatham cafe only to be told by a member of staff to “give us half an hour”.
In the video, posted by user @The_Write_Type, the female member of staff replies to the officer’s request by saying: “Just give us half an hour, people just have to eat.”
Police: “Sorry guys. You need to close. We need to evacuate - there’s been a terror incident just down the street.”
Cafe staff: “Just give us half an hour because people have to eat.”
🤦🏻♀️ #Streatham pic.twitter.com/O3RmYImQKC— Claire Stephenson (@The_Write_Type) February 2, 2020
The officer then responds: “Madam, a terrorist has been shot dead just down there. They’ve got a possible IED vest on them, which is a bomb.
“If you want to stay open for half an hour and you want to put people’s lives in danger then be my guest.
“If not, please listen to me and please make your way out of the shop, turning that way and making your way from the area.”
The incident follows last November’s stabbing at Fishmongers’ Hall at London Bridge, in which convicted terrorist Usman Khan killed two people before being shot dead by police. He had been released from prison on licence a year earlier.
Boris Johnson said he will announce plans on Monday for "fundamental changes to the system for dealing with those convicted of terrorism offences" following the attack.
He added: "Following the awful events at Fishmongers' Hall in December, we have moved quickly to introduce a package of measures to strengthen every element of our response to terrorism – including longer prison sentences and more money for the police."
