A FATHER-of-four who mowed down Muslim worshippers near a mosque after being radicalised by far-right groups has been jailed for at least 43 years.
A judge said Darren Osborne had developed a “malevolent hatred”, adding: “In short, you allowed your mind to be poisoned by those who claim to be leaders.”
Makram Ali, 51, was killed and 12 other people injured when Osborne ploughed a hire van on to a crowded pavement outside two mosques in Finsbury Park, north London, shortly after midnight on June 19 last year.
When he appeared for sentencing at Woolwich Crown Court yesterday, judge Mrs Justice Cheema-Grubb told him he had acted to “kill, maim, injure and terrify” as many people as possible in a bid to sow “long-lasting terror among the Muslim population”. She added: “Over the space of a month or so your mindset became one of malevolent hatred. This was a terrorist attack. You intended to kill.”
Osborne, 48, had denied murder and attempted murder but was convicted by a jury on Thursday. They heard he had been “rapidly radicalised” by far-right material online and that his “rage” was fuelled by the Manchester Arena and Westminster Bridge terror attacks.
The jury took just an hour to find Osborne guilty, dismissing his 11th-hour defence that a “fabricated” accomplice named Dave had been driving the van at the point of impact.
She described Osborne’s murderous rampage as a “suicide mission”, adding that a handwritten note found in the cab of the van revealed his “twisted view of Muslims”. Mrs Justice Cheema-Grubb said that while he was radicalised in just weeks, Osborne’s conduct in court exposed his “unreformed attitude and lack of insight” and that his “belligerent and violent” character would pose a significant risk to the public for a long time to come.
During his trial, Osborne said he had wanted to kill senior Labour figures including Jeremy Corbyn and London Mayor Sadiq Khan.
Ruzina Akhtar, one of Ali’s six children, said outside court that her family could not imagine what her father had felt in his final moments before being struck by the van.
Akhtar said her mother struggles to sleep alone and fears leaving the house in case she is targeted because she is wearing a headscarf.
In a statement read to the court, she said her heart had been “shattered” by the death of her father, adding: “His life was taken in a cruel way by a very narrow-minded, heartless being.”
Following sentencing, she added: “Our father, like the victims of most terrorism, was entirely innocent, which makes his death in this violent way all the more hurtful. We cannot imagine the trauma he felt in his last few minutes.”
The judge commended the actions of Imam Mohammed Mahmoud, of the Muslim Welfare House, who stopped angry bystanders from attacking Osborne after the collision.
The court heard Osborne had a criminal record spanning 30 years and had appeared in court on 33 occasions racking up 102 convictions.
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