Fishmongers' Hall: Terror attack victims 'touched the lives of so many'

Saskia Jones and Jack Merritt were killed by Usman Khan at an offender rehabilitation conference

Emotional tributes to the victims of the Fishmongers' Hall terror attack have been made after an inquest jury found a series of failings led to the tragedy.

Jurors, who deliberated for over five hours, found Saskia Jones, 23, and Jack Merritt, 25, were unlawfully killed by convicted terrorist Usman Khan.

Khan launched his knife attack at the prisoner rehabilitation event in 2019.

Jurors told Mr Merritt and Ms Jones's families: "They clearly touched the lives of so many, ours included."

At the inquest, the forewoman said: "The jury would like to send their heartfelt condolences to the families of Saskia and Jack and to all who love and miss these two wonderful young people.

"The world lost two bright stars that dreadful day.

"We wanted to convey to the families how seriously we have taken our collective responsibility. How important this is to us, how much their children matter."

The jury also thanked emergency services and the "astonishing individuals" who put themselves in "real danger" to help.

The jurors found there had been unacceptable management and a lack of accountability in the oversight of Khan, who had been allowed to travel on his own to London.

Usman Khan's trip to Fishmongers' Hall was the first he had taken unescorted out of Staffordshire following his release

They concluded there had been failures in the sharing of information between state agencies responsible for monitoring the convicted terrorist.

In a separate statement, the family of Ms Jones, from Stratford-upon-Avon, said there remained "a number of unanswered questions".

Saskia Jones's family said her idea of rehabilitation "was not consistent" with that of Learning Together

They said of Learning Together, which organised the event: "It could be said that their single-minded view of the rehabilitation of offenders - using Usman Khan, in our view, as a 'poster boy' for their programme - significantly clouded their judgement.

"Learning Together declined an opportunity to learn more about Usman Khan and his risk factors.

"This may have contributed to a failure to take account of the steps necessary to protect the safety and wellbeing of everyone involved.

"Their refusal when giving evidence adequately to review past behaviours within their organisation, and to consider that they may have done things differently, is astounding and insulting to the family."

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The family said they wanted to distance Ms Jones's connection to Learning Together, which is a University of Cambridge programme.

The co-founders of Learning Together and the university have pledged to reflect on the lessons of the inquests.