Terrorist who to tried to kill cyclists and police outside Parliament jailed

From the Jersey Evening Post

A copycat terrorist who tried to “kill as many people as possible” when he ploughed into cyclists and police officers outside the Houses of Parliament has been jailed for life.

Salih Khater, 30, drove his Ford Fiesta into a pedestrian and riders who had stopped at a red light in Parliament Square on August 14 last year. The Old Bailey heard Khater, of Highgate Street, Birmingham, wanted to cause maximum carnage and it was “miraculous” that no-one was killed.

Khater claimed he came to London to find the Sudanese embassy to get a visa but “got lost” around Westminster and panicked. A jury rejected his explanation for the crash and found him guilty of two charges of attempted murder in July.

In mitigation, Peter Carter QC told the court Khater remained an “enigma” and he had still not offered an explanation for what he did.

But Mrs Justice McGowan found Khater had deliberately copied other terrorists as she jailed him on Monday for life with a minimum term of 15 years. She said: “Your undoubted intention was to kill as many people as possible and by doing so spread fear and terror.. . . You replicated the acts of others who undoubtedly have acted with terrorist motives. You deliberately copied those others.”

“Even acting alone, you acted for a terrorist purpose. All the evidence is consistent with that conclusion.”

In the months before the attack, the defendant showed signs of “paranoia” about British authorities, it was claimed. However, I suspect because he attacked policeofficers and threatened the safety of those who govern this time the authoiriteis proptected themselves and (unlike two incidents in Manchester, the most recent of which was last week) decided that criminal charges and a long term of imprisonment were required)