Father of Jack Merritt calls out Daily Mail 'vile propaganda'

David Merritt, who described his son as a "beautiful spirit", called out the Daily Mail and the Daily Express for heavily politicised front pages. 

Today's Daily Mail front page read "New blitz on freed jihadis", while the Daily Express read " Boris blitz on freed jihadis begins". 

Merrit tweeted a response to the front pages, announced last night on Twitter, saying: "Don’t use my son’s death, and his and his colleague’s photos - to promote your vile propaganda. Jack stood against everything you stand for - hatred, division, ignorance."

Don’t use my son’s death, and his and his colleague’s photos - to promote your vile propaganda. Jack stood against everything you stand for - hatred, division, ignorance. https://t.co/R8LO16lugk

— David Merritt (@butwhatifitsall) December 1, 2019

Since the incident, Merritt has used Twitter to call out "knee-jerk reactions" from politicians and the media. 

Armed police in London following the attack

He said: "I obviously don’t have full facts about the process that led to the attacker being released, but what I can say with certainty is that no one at the event had the slightest inkling that he could or would do something like this. We don’t need knee-jerk reactions. 

Thank you Brendan. I obviously don’t have full facts about the process that led to the attacker being released, but what I can say with certainty is that no one at the event had the slightest inkling that he could or would do something like this. We don’t need knee-jerk reactions

— David Merritt (@butwhatifitsall) December 1, 2019

"It’s not lenient policies that are to blame, it’s the destruction of the probation service that is supposed to monitor and supervise prisoners after release, & rehabilitation services. Since 2010 these serviceA [sic] have been cut to the bone. We are all less safe as a result."

It’s not lenient policies that are to blame, it’s the destruction of the probation service that is supposed to monitor and supervise prisoners after release, & rehabilitation services. Since 2010 these serviceA have been cut to the bone. We are all less safe as a result.

— David Merritt (@butwhatifitsall) November 30, 2019

He also said his son, who worked to help rehabilitate prisoners, “would not wish his death to be used as the pretext for more draconian sentences or for detaining people unnecessarily”.

READ MORE: Boris Johnson tries to lay blame for terrorist attack with Labour

Saskia Jones, 23, also died in the attack. Her family described her as someone who had a "great passion" for supporting victims of criminal justice. 

The said she was a "funny, kind, positive influence at the centre of many people's lives". 

The aftermath of the attack has been fraught with a political blame game, with Boris Johnson saying Labour was responsible for the early release of the attack.

Usman Khan was jailed in 2012 for his part in a plot to bomb high-profile locations including Parliament, and for trying to establish a terrorist training camp in Pakistan.

Usman Khan (top right) attacked several people before being shot dead by police on London Bridge

He was given an indeterminate public protection sentence (IPP) and was told that he would serve at least eight years in prison.

But the IPP sentence, which ends only when the Parole Board considers that an offender no longer poses a risk to the public, was quashed by the Court of Appeal in 2013.

At his appeal, Khan’s legal team claimed that he was a young man whose ambition was to bring sharia law to Pakistan-controlled Kashmir and that it was “highly unrealistic to suppose that the authorities in Pakistan would allow a teenager from Stoke to impose sharia law or run a training school for terrorists”.