London Bridge attack: Living next door to Usman Khan 'scary'

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Usman KhanImage source, West Midlands Police
Image caption,

Usman Khan was living in Stafford after being released from prison in December 2018

Searches of properties in Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent following Friday's attack in London Bridge have been completed, police said.

One of attacker Usman Khan's neighbours told the BBC it was "scary that somebody who could do something like that lives so close to you".

Khan killed two people and injured three others before he was shot dead.

Tim Hackett, from Stafford, said he had occasionally seen Khan in the block of flats they shared in the town.

Image source, SnapperSK
Image caption,

Police searched properties in Stafford and Stoke-on-Trent following the attack

"He didn't have anything to do with people around here, he kept himself to himself," Mr Hackett said. "I think he liked it that way."

Khan, 28, had been living in Stafford since being released from prison in December 2018, after being jailed for terrorism offences in 2012.

Image caption,

Tim Hackett lived next door to Khan in Stafford and said he "kept himself to himself"

Mr Hackett said he had had no reason to be suspicious of Khan, who "didn't do anything to make himself look strange" and would occasionally acknowledge him at the front door.

At about 17:00 GMT on Friday, a few hours after Khan launched his deadly attack, Mr Hackett and his neighbours were evacuated from their homes, which had become a crime scene.

"I couldn't quite believe it at first," he said.

"It shows you that people who think like that live everywhere."

Image source, Met Police
Image caption,

Jack Merritt and Saskia Jones were killed during a conference to rehabilitate offenders

Khan was born and raised less than 20 miles from Stafford in nearby Cobridge, Stoke-on-Trent.

He was at a prisoner rehabilitation event when he stabbed 25-year-old Jack Merritt and Saskia Jones, 23.

The Met police thanked the local community "for their support whilst these enquiries were carried out" as police completed searches of properties in Stoke-on-Trent and Staffordshire.

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