London Bridge attacker had Cardiff links

Usman Khan was released from prison in December 2018

The man who carried out Friday's stabbing attack at London Bridge was a former prisoner convicted of terrorism offences, with ties to Cardiff.

Usman Khan, 28, was out of prison on licence at the time of the attack, in which a man and a woman were killed and three others were injured.

Khan was shot dead by officers after members of the public restrained him.

He was convicted in 2012 after plotting with a group from Stoke-on-Trent, London and Cardiff.

The plotters, including three men from Cardiff, had discussed attacking the London Stock Exchange, pubs in Stoke and, separately, setting up a jihadist training camp in Pakistan.

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Usman Khan (fourth from the left), pictured with his accomplices in Roath Park, Cardiff on 7 November 2010

The conspiracy developed over six weeks in late 2010, before the police arrested Khan and the others, their court case in 2012 was told.

The group were seen meeting in Roath Park, Cardiff, on 7 November 2010 to discuss their ambitions.

They also met at Cwmcarn Country Park, near Caerphilly, on 12 December 2010, when the Stock Exchange bomb was discussed.

In sentencing, the judge described all the men - who are British nationals of Bangladeshi and Pakistani origin - as Islamic fundamentalists.

Khan was one of three of the men initially given indeterminate sentences for their part in the plot but the sentences were revised on appeal.

Met Police Assistant Commissioner Neil Basu said that Khan was released from prison in December 2018.

"Clearly, a key line of inquiry now is to establish how he came to carry out this attack," he said, in a statement.