Man who drove into Muslims to be sentenced in London
A man who developed a hatred of Muslims after watching a TV drama about child sex abuse is to be sentenced later
Darren Osborne, 48, who had not previously expressed far-right views, became obsessed with Muslims after viewing the BBC's "Three Girls", about events in Rochdale, northern England, where white girls were abused by peadophile gangs.
He then researched extreme right-wing figures and groups, which sent him into a spiral of wanting to carry out an attack, police said.
"What this case demonstrates is that individuals can be become radicalised really, really quickly," said Commander Dean Haydon, the head of London's Counter Terrorism Command. "To be honest, some individuals look at material today and decide to do an attack later on this evening."
In a garbled handwritten note left in the van, Osborne described Muslim men as rapists, "feral" and "in-bred" and expressed his contempt for Muslim London mayor Sadiq Khan and socialist opposition Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, whom he later told jurors he had wanted to kill on the day of his attack.
He was also angered by three recent deadly Islamist incidents in Britain, and his attack occurred just weeks after three men drove a van into pedestrians on London Bridge before stabbing people in nearby bars and restaurants, killing eight.
That rampage came the month after a suicide bombing at a pop concert in Manchester killed 22 people. In March another Islamic State-inspired attacker killed five people by driving a car into passers-by on London's Westminster Bridge and then stabbing to death a police officer in the grounds of parliament.
Early on June 18, Osborne left his home in Cardiff, Wales, in a heavy van he had rented the day before and drove to central London. His original plan was to attack a pro-Palestinian march and he told the court his intent was to target Corbyn, although Haydon said there was no evidence of any direct threat.
Thwarted by road closures, Osborne headed south where he unsuccessfully looked for a mosque before going to north London and the Finsbury Park area.
Shortly after midnight, he came across a group of Muslims gathered around Makram Ali, 51, a father-of-six originally from Bangladesh, who had collapsed after leaving late-night Ramadan prayers.
He drove into the group, killing Ali, who died less than 300 feet (90 m) from his front door, and injuring 12 others, two seriously. Those at the scene apprehended him with local imam Mohammed Mahmoud intervening to ensure he was unharmed.
Published: by Radio NewsHub