The Streatham terror attack: what happened? – Immie Pearson
Streatham Terror Attack
At 2 PM on the afternoon of Sunday the 5th a terror attack took place on the busy road of Streatham about 7 miles from central London. Sudesh Amman was shot dead by police after he stabbed two people, during the attack he was wearing a fake bomb vest. Both victims; a man in his 40s and a woman in her 50s survived, the woman, now identified as Monika Luftner, was released from hospital on Sunday night and the man while his condition was initially life-threatening is in stable condition.
In video of the incident Sudesh can be seen to be advanced upon by two policemen and another plain-clothed officer who arrived later on a motorbike, they are seen on video to move back as Sudesh lifts head as more armed police arrived. A student who was there at the time recalled the events; “I was crossing the road when I saw a man with a machete and silver canisters on his chest being chased by what I assume was an undercover police officer – as they were in civilian clothing….The man was then shot. I think I heard three gun shots but I can’t quite remember.”
Sudesh at the time of the attack had been released from prison only a few days prior, he was jailed for possessing and distributing radical documents, he was sentenced to three years and four months with the court hearing he shared extremist views with friends and even encouraged his girlfriend to kill her parents. Sudesh’s father who recently moved to Sri Lanka revealed; “i spoke to Sudesh one day before he passed away. I didn’t know he had become radicalised.” Mr Kahn could not say anything bad about his son who was a “very calm and very good boy”.
What is rather shocking to know is that Sudesh, who had been staying at a bail hostel near to the location of the attack, was actually under surveillance by police at the time, potentially explaining the swift arrival of the plain clothes police officer after the incident. This clearly raises concerns about how extremist individuals are dealt with and sentenced in the UK’s criminal justice system, the fact that a known extremist who was under surveillance still managed to carry out this attack is deeply concerning.
In November, the national terror threat level was lowered to “substantial”, meaning an attack is considered likely. That is the third-highest in a five-step system and marked the first time since August 2014 that the threat level had been so low. It was lowered because of the belief that the threat of British jihadis returning to the country from Syria had been reduced by events there, including the Islamic State group’s loss of territory.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson has responded to the attack expressing his thoughts and concerns for the victims and gratefulness for the bravery of the police, he also explained; “An investigation is taking place at pace to establish the full facts of what happened, and the government will provide all necessary support to the police and security services as this work goes on.” As well as this he promised to announce “further plans for fundamental changes to the system for dealing with those convicted of terrorism offences.”
What from these changes will take if any major ones are made at all remains to be seen, but if this attack demonstrates anything it is that the current system for sentencing and dealing with radical individuals is not effective enough,
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