Reading terror attacker pleads guilty to murder after stabbing three friends in park

11/12/2020 Health, UK

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A Libyan refugee who murdered three men in a Reading park during a random terrorist knife attack later told police: “They deserved it.”

Khairi Saadallah’s relentless boasting can now be revealed after he admitted to three counts of murder and three additional counts of attempted murder at the Old Bailey today.

Khairi Saadallah today admitted to killing three men in the stabbing attack

Joseph Ritchie-Bennett was killed in the attack in June. — Joseph Ritchie-Bennett was killed in the attack in JuneCredit: PA: Press Association

History teacher James Furlong was also killed in ReadingCredit: PA: Press Association

But he denies that the savage knife attack on socially estranged drinkers during the confinement was motivated by a political or religious ideology.

Instead, the killer claims that he was suffering from mental illness at the time of his atrocity.

In due course, a trial will be held on the question whether the attack was motivated by a terrorist cause, and the prosecution will demand that he be given a lifetime fee.

Witnesses were said to have heard him shout “Allahu Akbar”. [God is great] while Saadallah carried out the knife attack in Reading’s Forbury Gardens on June 20 this year.

Schoolteacher James Furlong, 36, pharmaceutical company worker Joseph Ritchie-Bennett, 39, and scientist David Wails, 49, each died from a single stab wound.

One survivor, Stephen Young, needed 28 forehead stitches for a “serious deep” cut to the face.

Patrick Edwards was stabbed in the back and Nishit Nisudan suffered knife wounds to his head and right cheek in the bloodbath.

Saadallah was previously said in court to act “without warning or provocation”.

He attacked his victims “in rapid succession” causing “catastrophic and fatal” wounds to the back of the neck, prosecutors said.

His victims were regular customers of the Blagrave Arms, a gay pub across from the park, which was closed due to coronavirus.

Saadallah had previously gone on a reconnaissance trip through the park when the group was not there.

It can now be revealed that after the attack, the ruthless Saadallah gave the police a “full account”, telling officers: “They deserved it.”

A source said: “I was totally without regrets.”

The Tripoli-born killer has lived in Britain since 2012.

He was granted asylum in 2018 on the grounds that he was at risk of persecution after being involved with groups fighting in the Libyan civil war.

Saadallah received indefinite permission to stay here despite previous convictions for crimes of violence, criminal mischief and possession of offensive weapons between June 2014 and August 2019.

He has also received prior treatment for mental health problems.

Saadallah is understood to have told his fellow prisoners that he “wanted to kill people.”

And his brother had previously called the police after worrying about his mental health.

But Saadallah persuaded the officers who came to his Reading home that he was fine.

His mental health was noted by the Court of Appeal in October last year, reducing one of his sentences.

However, after the Reading attack, Saadallah’s mental health was assessed and he was deemed fit to stand trial.

The bearded Saadallah appeared yesterday in the dock wearing a pink and white cap with a mask, which he wore when he entered drowned guilty pleas.

Prosecutor Alison Morgan, QC, said: “The basis that the defendant has offered is that it did not involve a substantial degree of planning and was not done in any advancing political or ideological cause.

“You have to dig into the actual evidence where the disputes actually arise, which are not covered on the basis of the statement.”

Ms Morgan said that “there was a substantial degree of premeditation” and added “that the acts were done for the purpose of a political or ideological cause.”