From the Guardian
The Finsbury Park terrorist, Darren Osborne will spend at least 43 years behind bars after being jailed for life for his murderous attack on Muslims in London last June.
Osborne was sentenced on Friday to concurrent whole life terms for murder and attempted murder, with the minimum term of more than four decades to be served, having being found guilty at Woolwich crown court the day before.
The van attack on a crowd in Finsbury Park, north London, killed 51-year-old Makram Ali and left 12 other people injured.
During the sentencing hearing, Ali’s daughter, Rosina Akhtar, said she could not describe the pain she and her relatives had suffered. Her father was taken from them “in a cruel way by a very narrow-minded, heartless being”, she said in a statement read to the court by the prosecutor, Jonathan Rees QC.
She and her family had struggled to sleep since the attack – the scene of which she still has to pass most days on her way to work – and had suffered nightmares, Akhtar said.
She described the anguish at having to wait 48 hours to identify her father’s body. “My heart was shattered when I saw my father lying in the morgue. I couldn’t see his smile.” The family’s grieving could not begin properly until the trial was concluded, she said.
Osborne attacked the crowd because they were wearing traditional Muslim dress, the prosecution had said during his trial. Akhtar said her mother now felt scared to go out in public because she wears such garments.
“My mother now feels scared to sleep on her own. She sleeps with her children,” she said. “She still sees my father around the house all the time. He was very much a family man ... this is how he will be remembered.”
Akhtar said Ali’s children and grandchildren, who loved to spend time with him, would now grow up without a father or grandfather. “My father will never be forgotten. He will always stay in our hearts. His laughter will echo the walls of our home and his smile will be reflected in our eyes.”
Speaking from the dock after the sentences were passed, Osborne, told the judge: “God bless you, thank you.”
The jury took about an hour to unanimously convict Osborne over the premeditated attack in June 2017. He used a rented van to target Muslims as they returned from prayers during the holy month of Ramadan, and the court heard he had wanted to kill as many as possible.
His trial heard that he had become radicalised after watching the BBC docudrama Three Girls about the Rochdale grooming scandal, and reading online content from far-right figures such as the former EDL leader Tommy Robinson, and organisations such as Britain First.
Osborne had appeared before the courts on 33 previous occasions in relation to 102 offences, including assaults and burglaries, Rees told the court.
The Finsbury Park terrorist, Darren Osborne will spend at least 43 years behind bars after being jailed for life for his murderous attack on Muslims in London last June.
Osborne was sentenced on Friday to concurrent whole life terms for murder and attempted murder, with the minimum term of more than four decades to be served, having being found guilty at Woolwich crown court the day before.
The van attack on a crowd in Finsbury Park, north London, killed 51-year-old Makram Ali and left 12 other people injured.
During the sentencing hearing, Ali’s daughter, Rosina Akhtar, said she could not describe the pain she and her relatives had suffered. Her father was taken from them “in a cruel way by a very narrow-minded, heartless being”, she said in a statement read to the court by the prosecutor, Jonathan Rees QC.
She and her family had struggled to sleep since the attack – the scene of which she still has to pass most days on her way to work – and had suffered nightmares, Akhtar said.
She described the anguish at having to wait 48 hours to identify her father’s body. “My heart was shattered when I saw my father lying in the morgue. I couldn’t see his smile.” The family’s grieving could not begin properly until the trial was concluded, she said.
Osborne attacked the crowd because they were wearing traditional Muslim dress, the prosecution had said during his trial. Akhtar said her mother now felt scared to go out in public because she wears such garments.
“My mother now feels scared to sleep on her own. She sleeps with her children,” she said. “She still sees my father around the house all the time. He was very much a family man ... this is how he will be remembered.”
Akhtar said Ali’s children and grandchildren, who loved to spend time with him, would now grow up without a father or grandfather. “My father will never be forgotten. He will always stay in our hearts. His laughter will echo the walls of our home and his smile will be reflected in our eyes.”
Speaking from the dock after the sentences were passed, Osborne, told the judge: “God bless you, thank you.”
The jury took about an hour to unanimously convict Osborne over the premeditated attack in June 2017. He used a rented van to target Muslims as they returned from prayers during the holy month of Ramadan, and the court heard he had wanted to kill as many as possible.
His trial heard that he had become radicalised after watching the BBC docudrama Three Girls about the Rochdale grooming scandal, and reading online content from far-right figures such as the former EDL leader Tommy Robinson, and organisations such as Britain First.
Osborne had appeared before the courts on 33 previous occasions in relation to 102 offences, including assaults and burglaries, Rees told the court.
