Attacks bring terror to streets of Britain
A series of terror attacks have brought horror to the streets of Britain in recent years.
The latest saw a multiple stabbing attack in Reading, which is suspected to be terror-related.
The attack took place at around 7pm in Forbury Gardens in the town centre – and a man was arrested at the scene and taken into police custody, Thames Valley Police said.
Here are some of the major domestic incidents in recent years:
– May 22, 2013: Fusilier Lee Rigby died as a result of multiple cut and stab wounds after being attacked in Woolwich, south-east London, by extremists Michael Adebolajo and Michael Adebowale. Adebolajo was given a whole-life term and Adebowale was jailed for a minimum of 45 years.
– June 16, 2016: Labour MP Jo Cox was stabbed 15 times and shot three times outside her constituency surgery in Birstall, near Leeds, a week before the EU referendum. Neo-Nazi Thomas Mair, who shouted “Britain first” in the attack, was given a whole life sentence for the murder.
– March 22, 2017: Kent-born Khalid Masood, 52, was shot dead by police after he drove a rental car into pedestrians on Westminster Bridge before fatally stabbing Pc Keith Palmer, 48, in the Palace of Westminster’s forecourt. US tourist Kurt Cochran, Romanian tourist Andreea Cristea, and Britons Aysha Frade and Leslie Rhodes were also killed.
– May 22, 2017: At around 10.30pm, British-born Salman Abedi, 22, walked into the foyer of Manchester Arena as crowds streamed out of an Ariana Grande concert and detonated a device packed with shrapnel, killing 22 people, including children.
– June 3, 2017: A white van hit pedestrians on London Bridge before three men got out of the vehicle and began stabbing people in nearby Borough Market, leaving eight people dead and 48 injured. Khuram Butt, Rachid Redouane and Youssef Zaghba were shot dead by police minutes later.
– June 19, 2017: A group of Muslim worshippers were hit after a van slammed into them near Finsbury Park Mosque, north London, after many of them had attended evening prayers during the holy month of Ramadan. One person died. Darren Osborne was jailed for at least 43 years after being found guilty of murder and attempted murder.
– September 15, 2017: Ahmed Hassan’s homemade bomb partially exploded on a London Underground rush hour train at Parsons Green, injuring more than 50 people. He was sentenced to life with a minimum jail term of 34 years.
– November 29, 2019: Jack Merrit, 25, and Saskia Jones, 23, were stabbed to death by Usman Khan, 28, at a prisoner rehabilitation event. A man and two women were also injured before Khan, who was released from prison on licence in December 2018, was shot dead by armed officers on London Bridge.
– February 2, 2020: Sudesh Amman was shot dead by police after stabbing two people on a busy street in the south London area of Streatham while wearing a fake suicide vest.
– June 20, 2020: A knife attack at a park in Reading town centre left several people injured in an incident believed to be terror-related, Thames Valley Police said.
