Man Shot Dead in London Terror Attack Served Prison Time
It was the second time in months that a recently released convicted terrorist attacked people in London
Knife Attacker Shot Dead in London Was a Convicted Terrorist
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Knife Attacker Shot Dead in London Was a Convicted Terrorist
British police shot and killed a man who had been recently released from prison after he stabbed two people. It was the second time in a few months that a person convicted of terrorism-related charges attacked people in London after being released. Photo: Ray Tang/Zuma Press
By
Max Colchester
Updated Feb. 2, 2020 6:27 pm ET
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LONDON—A man who had recently been released from prison for terror offenses was shot dead by British police Sunday after stabbing two people in South London.
Undercover police officers shot Sudesh Amman, a 20-year-old who had served time in jail for distributing terrorism-related material, after he launched a knife attack while wearing a fake suicide vest, London’s Metropolitan Police said.
It was the second time in a matter of months that a person convicted of terrorism-related charges attacked people in London after being released. In November, a terrorist on parole was shot by police after stabbing two people to death in central London.
Mr. Amman had been jailed for sharing terrorist material in 2018 and was released early from a three-year sentence. British police continued to track him after his release and undercover officers moved quickly to halt the attack on Sunday in the London borough of Lambeth.
“We are confident that this is an isolated incident,” said Metropolitan Police Deputy Assistant Commissioner Lucy D’Orsi. None of the people stabbed had life-threatening injuries, police said.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson said Sunday that the country would review rules that allow people convicted of terror offenses to get early release from prison.
The incident, the latest in a series of terrorist attacks to have hit London in recent years, shines a spotlight on the country’s judicial system. The question of how to monitor convicted terrorists returning into society is a growing issue for stretched counterterrorism police and security agencies in the U.K. and across Europe—a parallel with the challenge they face from jihadists returning from the Syrian conflict.
London’s Metropolitan Police said that the incident in the south London suburb of Streatham was terrorism-related. PHOTO: HOLLIE ADAMS/GETTY IMAGES
Last year Mr. Johnson said there were around 74 convicted terrorists who had received early release from prison. It is unclear whether Mr. Amman was among them.
Britain has struggled of late with a series of bloody attacks perpetrated by Islamic extremists.
In June 2017, London Bridge and the surrounding area were the scene of a bloody rampage by three knife-wielding men who plowed a van into pedestrians and stabbed people in nearby bars and restaurants. All three were shot dead by police. Eight people were killed and dozens hospitalized in the assault.
Also in June 2017, a van struck pedestrians outside a London mosque. Earlier that year, another car attack occurred on London’s Westminster Bridge, leaving five dead. And in May 2017, a suicide bomber killed 22 concertgoers in Manchester.
British security services in November lowered their assessment of the risk of a major terrorist attack to “substantial,” the third rung on a five-point scale, which implies an attack is likely. It remains on that level.
Images of Streatham High Road shared on social media Sunday showed ambulances attending the scene and a man laid prone on a busy main street in the area surrounded by plainclothes policemen.
One person not hurt by the attacker was injured by glass shattered by police bullets, authorities said.
“Terrorists seek to divide us and destroy our way of life. Here in London we will never let them succeed,” said London Mayor Sadiq Khan.
Write to Max Colchester at max.colchester@wsj.com