Fishmongers' Hall attack 'looked like pub fight'

Usman Khan's trip to Fishmongers' Hall was the first he had taken unescorted out of Staffordshire following his release from prison in 2018

The end stages of the Fishmongers' Hall terror attack "looked like a pub fight", an eyewitness told an inquest.

Usman Khan fatally stabbed Jack Merritt, 25, and Saskia Jones, 23, at a prisoner rehabilitation conference at the hall on 29 November 2019.

Solicitor Ian Waring, who was watching from his office window, described seeing Khan being pinned to the ground on London Bridge.

Khan, who also injured two other people, was then shot dead by police.

The 28-year-old convicted terrorist had been pursued on to the bridge by three men.

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Giving evidence at the inquest into Khan's death at London's Guildhall, Mr Waring said he saw what "looked like a bit of a pub fight".

Police fired twice "very rapidly", with the terrorist appearing to be struck in his chest, he said.

Two texts Mr Waring sent to his wife a minute apart, as the standoff reached its climax, were read out to the inquest.

The first read: "All kicking off here. We've just witnessed someone get shot by the police.

"He had knives and was tackled to the ground by passes by [sic]."

The second text read: "He's moving around but police will kill him if he moves much more."

A jury found that Cambridge University graduates Saskia Jones and Jack Merritt were unlawfully killed by Khan

Khan, from Stafford, was shot by police 20 times after telling officers he had a bomb.

He had stopped moving by 14:12 GMT - about 15 minutes after beginning his attack - and was pronounced dead at 15:07 after the scene was made safe.

Photographer Richard Cains, who was near the hall at the time, told the inquest: "I thought they were filming a movie over there and didn't think more of it.

"It wasn't something I was overly concerned with at that point."

The Guildhall heard Khan had been wearing a fake suicide vest

Businessman Benjamin Tindall, who was further down the bridge towards Borough Market, said Khan's knives "looked almost fake".

He said the weapons looked "like a child had made them from tinfoil, they looked so shiny".

"It looked like a sketch show, then I realised the severity as it unfolded."

Last week another inquest jury identified a catalogue of failures that contributed to the deaths of Mr Merritt and Ms Jones.

The inquest into Khan's death is expected to last two weeks.