Reading terror inquest: Killer's deportation dropped before murders

Friends (L-R) David Wails, Joe Ritchie-Bennett and James Furlong had been enjoying a summer's evening

Efforts to deport a Libyan refugee were dropped shortly before he murdered three men in a terrorist attack in a park, a coroner has heard.

Khairi Saadallah's deportation was initially stalled because he faced charges, including eating a police station mattress, the hearing was told.

The process was then dropped because of the war in Libya, the court heard.

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

He was handed a whole-life sentence at the Old Bailey in 2021 after pleading guilty to three murders and three attempted murders.

The refugee, then aged 25, shouted "Allahu akhbar" as he fatally stabbed the three friends on the evening of 20 June.

Khairi Saadallah is serving a whole-life jail term

Nick Harborne, chief executive of Reading Refugee Support Group (RSG), told the hearing it was "vital that the scope of the inquiry goes back to at least November 2016".

He said: "This was one of our contact points at RSG with [Saadallah] where we became aware first hand of his potential for violence and vulnerable state of his mental health.

"It marks the point where RSG became concerned of the potential for his radicalisation, and the support for his mental health, as he started going in and out of prison. This started here, not in 2019.

"The lessons learned need to be drawn from at least 2016, when he informed us he wanted to go home to fight to avenge the death of his family members. This is also the point concerns were raised and shared by the wider voluntary sector that he wanted to martyr himself."

Mr Harborne said the charity spent four years trying to arrange mental health support for Saadallah.

The victims' families attended a memorial service in Forbury Gardens in June 2021

On 24 July 2019, Saadallah was arrested and taken to Reading police station, the hearing at the Royal Courts of Justice was told.

Nicholas Moss KC, counsel to the inquest, said in court papers: "On that date, Saadallah is said to have... spat at a detention officer after arrest and damaged a mattress by eating it."

He was charged with being drunk and disorderly, destroying or damaging property and assault by beating of an emergency worker, the hearing was told.

On 28 May 2020, the Home Office emailed Thames Valley Police stating it was planning to deport Saadallah but was unable to until the charges were dealt with, the coroner heard.

It asked the police to consider dropping them, which prosecutors did the following day, the hearing was told.

However, on 4 June - 16 days before the murders - the Home Office decided the refugee could not be deported because of unsafe conditions in Libya.

Judge Coroner Lord Justice Fulford told the court "no relevant stone will be left unturned" during the inquest, due to be held next year.