Reading stabbings: Officer 'missed terrorist threat' before killings

(L-R) David Wails, Joe Ritchie-Bennett and James Furlong died at the scene of the attack in Forbury Gardens

A police officer missed opportunities to report the risk posed by the killer of three men in Reading's Forbury Gardens, an inquest has heard.

Khairi Saadallah stabbed James Furlong, 36, Dr David Wails, 49, and Joseph Ritchie-Bennett, 39, to death in 2020.

Counter terrorism officer Det Sgt Daniel Spiers previously reported that Saadallah was "not a national security threat", the Old Bailey inquest heard.

However, the officer told the court he regretted his judgement.

Khairi Saadallah was given a whole-life term for murdering the three friends

Det Sgt Spiers was tasked with assessing Saadallah after the former Libyan child soldier was released from prison in June 2019.

The officer's report said: "There is no intelligence that suggests KS wishes to commit any terrorism offences."

He said various offences committed by Saadallah, such as possession of a knife and assaults, were a by-product of mental health issues and post-traumatic stress disorder "rather than any ideological mindset".

A memorial was unveiled at the Forbury Bandstand, exactly three years after the attack

In July 2019, shortly after his release from prison, Saadallah said he wanted to hurt people and kill himself because he was being harassed on social media, the court was told.

In fact, the 500 comments posted on Facebook had been in response to Saadallah posting comments by the Islamic State group, the inquest heard.

Det Sgt Spiers told the court: "I read that but didn't pick it up."

Relatives of the victims including (left to right) Gary Furlong, Andrew Wails, Jan Furlong and Gary Furlong Jnr have attended the inquest

The court was also shown a report from Reading homelessness charity Launchpad, which said Saadallah "talks about wanting to martyr himself".

Another report, from Reading Refugee Support Group, said: "Without coordinated help and support here, I suspect he will end up getting badly hurt or killed or doing the same to someone else."

However Det Sgt Spiers wrote in his own report: "I have a different view. I think we are seeing a lack of ideology in his behaviour. He is not in my view a national security threat."

Under cross-examination, the officer agreed with a barrister that his training in understanding extremism had been "rather crude and lacking in details".

Peter Skelton KC, representing the victim's families, asked: "Shouldn't you have presented a more balanced picture of him as a potential risk?"

Det Sgt Spiers replied: "I regret not giving that more gravity, as clearly what I wrote was adopted by [counter terrorism initiatives] Prevent and Mappa and there would have been a different outcome."

In January 2021, Saadallah was handed a whole-life sentence after pleading guilty to three murders and three attempted murders.

The inquest continues.

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