Express & Star comment: Essential that our citizens are safe

They arrived at the scene promptly and dispatched Amman before he could do more damage.

Few will mourn Amman.

He had been radicalised and by all accounts was more dangerous when he left the high security Bellmarsh Prison than he was when he was first sent there.

His previous convictions for terrorist offences, however, cause concern.

• Tough measures promised as questions remain over extremists

He is the second man in a short space of time to be released from prison, before attacking the public.

The time has come to put an end to such behaviour.

Boris Johnson has been restrained in his remarks.

Perhaps that is because, ultimately, Britain remains a generally tolerant place.

Yes, there have been ugly incidents of intolerance, racism and xenophobia during recent years as the Brexit wars have been fought.

But Britain has a better reputation than many nations around the world for fostering togetherness.

Amman, however, shows that there are some beyond reach. The police and our courts must have the power to keep them behind bars, for as long as they remain a risk to society.

This is not an issue of race, of Islamophobia, of cracking down on a particular section of society.

Far from it.

Any criminal who poses a danger to the wider public, who is likely to repeat offences, who is likely to take a life – or attempt that – should not be at liberty.

And Amman was a man who was just that: a danger.

Paradoxically, Amman’s legacy will be to keep our streets safer.

For those inclined towards terrorism can be sure that the prospects of an early release have now gone.

The Government will crack down and toughen up sentencing, there will be less leniency, less prospect of early release, less danger to the public.

It is that the British instinct, to seek to rehabilitate and provide another chance, is being compromised in order to keep terrorists at bay.

But it is essential above all else that our citizens are safe.