‘Bright stars’ killed in Fishmongers’ Hall terror attack were ‘wonderful young people’

Two “bright stars” murdered in the Fishmongers’ Hall terror attack were “wonderful young people” who “touched the lives of so many” through their work to rehabilitate prisoners, jurors at their inquest said.

Jack Merritt, 25, and Saskia Jones, 23, passionately believed in efforts to reform ex-offenders — including their killer, Usman Khan.

He murdered them at an event held by Cambridge University’s Learning Together prison programme on 29 November 2019.

An inquest jury ruled that the victims were unlawfully killed on Friday, and that the injuries they suffered were not survivable.

Jurors found that “omissions and failures” by the authorities charged with managing Khan following his release from prison had contributed to the deaths of Mr Merritt and Ms Jones.

In a joint statement read to London’s Guildhall by the head of the jury, members called them “wonderful young people” and sent their condolences to their families.

“They clearly touched the lives of so many, ours included,” jurors said. “The world lost two bright stars that dreadful day.”

Mr Merritt and Ms Jones were both connected to Cambridge University’s Learning Together programme, which saw students and prisoners take joint educational courses inside prisons.

The coroner, Mark Lucraft QC, said evidence heard at the inquests heard how Mr Merritt and Ms Jones’s lives “enriched those around them”.

“Their lives were tragically cut short,” he added. “Each of Jack and Saskia had demonstrated a profound commitment to the good of society: Jack, through his work on education and rehabilitation of offenders, and Saskia, through her research work in the field of sexual violence and her concerns for victim support in the justice system.”

Police and MI5 believe Khan targeted Learning Together staff and volunteers in his attack, while “bypassing” staff who worked at the venue.

Ms Jones’s mother said she had been “unsure” about going to the event, which was a celebration to mark the fifth anniversary of the programme, and only decided to go the evening before.

Mr Merritt unwittingly helped his killer reach Fishmongers’ Hall on the morning of the attack, helping Khan find a train after the service he was due to board from Stafford was cancelled.

Mr Merritt’s mother, Anne, described her son as a “force of good in the world, someone who made other people’s lives better for knowing him”.

Friends called him “completely brilliant”, describing how he had a “thirst for being a part of absolutely everything” and “was destined to do great things”.

They also said that Mr Merritt, who read law at Manchester University before doing a criminology masters’ at Cambridge, was “angry because he saw our society failing those most in need”.

An emotional statement read to the inquests added: “He was selfless in his dedication to make things right in every second of his life.”

Ms Jones studied criminology and psychology at Angela Ruskin University before completing a masters degree in criminology at Cambridge University, a year after Mr Merritt finished the same course.

Her family said she “was driven to make real changes in the world” and after initially looking at a career teaching in prisons, was working with survivors of sexual violence and hoped to become a detective in victim support.

“The positive impact Saskia had on so many people in challenging situations provided a valley of light for them to seek hope and a way forward,” said a statement read to the inquests.

Mr Merritt, who was the course co-ordinator for Learning Together, had known Khan since he joined the scheme at HMP Whitemoor in 2017.

The terrorist was serving a sentence at the high-security prison for a previous plot to set up a militant training camp in Pakistan, and was known to be involved in violence and radicalisation.

Ms Jones volunteered with Learning Together at a different prison, but did not meet Khan until the morning of the attack, when they were sat at the same table during the London event where he would launch his rampage.

The inquests heard that Mr Merritt chanced across Khan as he was making his final preparations for the attack in the men’s toilets, shortly before 2pm.

Khan had taped two large knives to his hands and revealed a fake suicide vest previously hidden under his clothing, minutes after giving a speech saying how he had benefitted from the Learning Together programme.

The terrorist stabbed Mr Merritt multiple times in the toilet, before walking into the neighbouring cloakroom and stabbing Ms Jones fatally in the neck.

He also stabbed a Learning Together staff member and another former volunteer who had joined its programme at HMP Full Sutton while studying criminology.

The inquests heard that Khan “bypassed staff” who worked at Fishmongers’ Hall, even when he had the chance to stab them or threatened them with his knives.

An anonymous MI5 officer who gave evidence on behalf of the service said: “We agree with the police assessment that it is likely that Khan was seeking to target members of the Learning Together team.”

She said MI5 did not have any previous intelligence that Khan harboured hostility towards the scheme, and believed it to be a “very positive relationship”.

That belief was shared by the probation service and other authorities who were monitoring Khan after his release from prison in December 2018, and permitted him to go to the Fishmongers’ Hall event without an escort.

The inquests into the victims’ deaths are to be followed by a separate inquest into Khan’s death, after he was chased onto London Bridge by attendees of the event and shot by armed police.