Risk posed by terrorist before Reading attacks to face inquest scrutiny

The risk posed by a triple murderer before he carried out the Reading terror attacks will come under heavy scrutiny as full inquest proceedings are due to begin.

Libyan refugee Khairi Saadallah shouted “Allahu akhbar” as he fatally stabbed friends James Furlong, 36, Dr David Wails, 49, and Joseph Ritchie-Bennett, 39, on June 20, 2020 in the town’s Forbury Gardens.

The families of the three victims previously called for a “full and fearless investigation” into how their deaths could have been prevented.

James Furlong, David Wails and Joseph Ritchie-Bennett were killed in the attacks (Thames Valley Police/PA)

Three other people, Stephen Young, Patrick Edwards and Nishit Nisudan, were also injured before Saadallah threw away the eight-inch knife and ran off, pursued by an off-duty police officer.

In January 2021, the killer was handed a whole-life sentence at the Old Bailey after pleading guilty to three murders and three attempted murders.

The full inquest will look at the management of Saadallah while in prison and on probation, as well as his mental health.

The assessment and response to his risk of terrorism before the attacks will also come under scrutiny.

On Monday, the inquest at the Old Bailey will hear hear pen portraits of the victims.

Previous hearings have heard Saadallah could not be deported shortly before the attacks, as he was facing a trial accused of eating a mattress at a police station and spitting at an officer in July 2019.

Police forensics officers in Forbury Gardens (Dominic Lipinski/PA)

Home Office staff emailed Thames Valley Police on May 28, 2020, saying that they planned to deport Saadallah but were unable to “until the impending charges had been dealt with”.

A previous hearing heard other Home Office staff were arguing against deporting him, as it was dangerous for him to return to Libya at the time.

The charges were dropped on June 1, 2020, shortly before the murders.

Initiating inquest proceedings in January last year, coroner Martyn Zeidman KC said he wanted to investigate “what state agencies knew about Saadallah” and the “risk he posed to the public” before the killings.