Reading park terror deaths inquest shown video footage

(L-R) David Wails, Joe Ritchie-Bennett and James Furlong were pronounced dead at the scene

An inquest has been shown video footage captured before a terrorist attack in a park in which three friends were stabbed to death.

Khairi Saadallah attacked James Furlong, Joe Ritchie-Bennett and David Wails in Forbury Gardens, Reading, in June 2020.

Witnesses saw Saadallah stab the men before attacking three others. He was later given a whole-life jail term.

The inquest at the Old Bailey is expected to last for six weeks.

'Cleansing himself'

The inquest was shown video of Saadallah as he made his way to Forbury Gardens on the day of the attack.

Counsel to the inquest Nicholas Moss KC said Saadallah had gone into Reading earlier on 20 June to buy a pair of denim shorts, which he had worn to help him “blend in” with those gathered in the park during one of the first relaxations in lockdown rules.

Together with a union jack bandana, which he had wrapped around his leg, his clothing helped ensure the “element of surprise” right up until the point when he launched his attack.

The inquest was shown CCTV of Saadallah leaving his flat on Basingstoke Road in Reading for the final time.

As he headed for the front door he was seen to give two bibles to a woman he passed in the corridor.

After buying a bottle of water at a takeaway, CCTV showed him placing the change in a charity tin before checking his pockets for any more coins.

Det Ch Supt Oliver Wright, who headed the investigation into the attack, said police later assessed his behaviour as “cleansing himself for jihad” by giving away the money and bibles.

He was later tracked on CCTV to the gates of the park where, the inquest was told, he had paused to look at where people were sitting on the grass.

Khairi Saadallah admitted three counts of murder and three counts of attempted murder

It had previously heard Saadallah had looked at the area online, as well as visiting the park in person, to carry out what was described as “a recce”.

CCTV from a nearby wine bar showed, after pausing, he retreated to some bins, hidden under a tree, where he smashed his mobile phone and took an 8in kitchen knife from a rucksack, hiding it inside his shorts.

Det Ch Supt Wright said: “Going to a preparation site like this was not uncommon in a terrorist attack."

Saadallah then re-entered the park and, in an attack lasting less than 30 seconds, had stabbed six men in two separate groups, fatally wounding three of them.

The inquest heard that to carry out an attack the way he did, targeting specific areas of the body, indicated he had undergone training - either in a camp or online.

The inquest was shown CCTV of the attacker fleeing across town chased by an off-duty police officer.

Body cam footage played in court showed officers detaining him and having to usher away a member of the public who said “as a Muslim I am outraged to hear him shouting about jihad".

The inquest has also heard pen portraits from the dead men’s families.

Robert Ritchie, Joe Ritchie-Bennett’s older brother, speaking on a video link from his home in the US, described him as “a blessing to the entire world”.

He said his brother had moved to the UK after studying fashion design and marketing in Canada.

News of his murder arrived on Father's Day in the US and when a card which had already arrived was opened, the final words of the message said "I will be thinking of you from afar", he told the inquest.

He said his his mother and father still had a calendar on their fridge locked on the day of his brother's death.

“It’s as if our family is frozen in time. They say people move on, we haven’t moved on – it’s too painful,” he said.

A memorial was unveiled at the Forbury Bandstand exactly three years on from the attack

Janet Furlong read a letter sent to her family by a pupil at The Holt school in Wokingham where her son James was head of history and politics.

It described him as somebody who encouraged children to be proud of who they were, adding that he “touched the lives of all who knew him".

Mr Wails's brother Andrew delivered a statement on behalf of their mother Jan saying: "We were left heartbroken for the rest of our lives. We were denied the chance to say goodbye.”

Judge Coroner Sir Adrian Fulford opening the inquest said: “We will be considering whether this could have been avoided.”

Speaking outside the Old Bailey ahead of the hearing, James Furlong's father Gary said: “We owe it to them to get honest answers to whether their deaths could have been avoided.”

Saadallah came to Britain in 2012 after fighting in the Libyan civil war as a teenager.

The Home Office had been in the process of removing him in the months leading up to the murders, following several periods in prison.

But it was decided it was unsafe to deport him due to the ongoing fighting in his home country.

A memorial to the victims was unveiled in the park in June, along with a separate commemorative mosaic at the school in nearby Wokingham, where Mr Furlong taught history.

Pupils said they wanted him to be remembered long after the last children he had taught had grown up.

The stone was designed in collaboration with the families of Mr Furlong, 36, Mr Ritchie-Bennett, 39, and Mr Wails, 49.