Council agrees to remove Staffordshire terrorist's name from report over 'far right' concerns
The name of a Staffordshire terrorist who killed two people in the London Bridge attacks is to be removed from a council report over concerns including it could play into the hands of far right extremists.
Usman Khan, from Stoke-on-Trent but who had a flat in Stafford, was responsible for the attack at Fishmongers Hall in 2019. At an event to help ex-offenders, he fatally wounded Prisoner Education Scheme volunteers Saskia Jones, 23, and 25-year-old Jack Merritt, before being shot dead by police.
But at a meeting of Staffordshire county council’s Safeguarding Overview and Scrutiny Committee on Monday, which was receiving the chief coroner’s report outlining how future deaths could be prevented following the inquests of Khan’s two victims, debate focused on the inclusion of Khan’s name in the report.
One member claimed that including Khan’s name and ethnic background could provoke an increase in hate crime, while an opponent said the authority should be wary of “watering down” information that was in the public domain.
At the meeting, Councillor Gillian Pardesi said: “Can I suggest those two details are removed please? My concern is that mentioning the name of this person, who happens to be of Pakistani descent, further demonises the Muslim community and it embeds in people out there a stereotypical profile of what an extremist is.
“We are in dire financial straits as a country and the far-right in particular will look for scapegoats to exploit that situation. Unfortunately that has meant, and will continue to mean, a further rise in hate crime and attacks on our Muslim members in particular.
“It also detracts from the fact that we have, in the world as a whole, a far more far-right and neo-Nazi threat than we have now of Islamist jihads. The NSPCC recently reported that a record number of our children are now being groomed by the far-right.
“The far-right, the neo-Nazis and extremists are not hiding away in their bedrooms behind screens. They’re working and living amongst us.
“Over the summer they appeared, confidently and brazenly, at a planning meeting just across the road at Stafford Borough Council. They were openly turning up in numbers, confidently recruiting and handing out leaflets and cards and holding the most disgraceful placards.”
Councillor Bob Spencer, who chaired the meeting, disagreed with Councillor Pardesi. He said: “I think the expression of how that translates into the far-right threat is not 100% clear. I don’t think it’s a fact that the far-right threat is the greatest threat of terrorism in this country – far from it.
“I think we ought to be careful about how we report some of the things and some of the words that we use. However, having said that, if we are simply mirroring or echoing the phrases and words already used by the coroner, that gives it the requisite validity around us using those as well.
“I think this is public knowledge and within the public domain – we’re not telling people something that they don’t know. I don’t see the value personally in changing the language of Home Office reports. I do worry about us constantly watering down facts.”
Chief Coroner Judge Lucraft’s Prevention of Future Deaths report names Khan, but does not include a reference to his heritage.
But the Staffordshire council report that was to be received by the committee, which was written by an officer of the authority, included the following text: “On 29 November 2019, five people were stabbed, two fatally, in Central London. The attacker, Usman Khan, a 28-year-old British national from Stoke-on-Trent, of Pakistani descent, had been released from prison in 2018 on licence after serving a sentence for terrorist offences and was wearing an electronic tag. He was living at an address in Stafford at the time of the attack.”
Cabinet member Councillor Victoria Wilson, who presented the report to Monday’s meeting, said: “I have to admit I did not want those words to be put in the report. If the person in question was from Spain or Ireland, I don’t feel it is relevant.
“For that reason I am happy to remove those words from the report. I don’t see how it relates to anything else, I think we can remove those words from the report if that’s what the committee wants.”
The report presented to Monday’s meeting was “prepared to provide assurance that relevant lessons have been learnt and that actions have been taken by the appropriate agencies to prevent future similar events occurring”, Councillor Wilson said.
The committee was asked to review the report and note the matters of concern raised by the Chief Coroner.
Councillor Wilson, cabinet member for communities and culture, said: “The prevention of future deaths report required 10 organisations to provide a response to the report and these included Staffordshire Police, West Midlands Police and the Probation Service. It didn’t require Staffordshire County Council to respond.
“Recommendations that impact on Staffordshire (are) risk assessment process, clarity over agency leadership, prison actions to manage radicalisation, procedural issues and communications. Key changes agencies have made indicate that lessons have been learned and appropriate action has been taken to mitigate against future similar events taking place.
“For local reassurance, The Staffordshire Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner held a meeting with senior partners and stakeholders to share learning and current offender management arrangements as well as relevant legislation changes. Whilst no local actions have been identified, the improvements that have been made at national and regional level will positively impact Staffordshire, as any CT (counter terrorism) offenders being released into the county will be subject to tighter controls.”
Councillor Spencer said: “It was quite a damning report. The management of this individual here in Staffordshire wasn’t the best and unfortunately two people lost their lives, partly as a result of that.
“We are not looking to find out what the failings were, those are clear. What we are looking for is some reassurance that whilst we can’t say this thing will never happen again, we do need to know that there is a robust process in place, that we’re doing everything to mitigate risk and keep the people of Staffordshire safe.
“The change through all of these organisations is absolutely significant; the probation service and prisons, how people are managed in, out and on their release, changes to counter terrorism practices is quite extensive. I think we can take some reassurance from the fact we have learned those lessons and are moving on positively from that.”
