London Bridge terror victim tells how he came ‘nose to nose’ with knife maniac screaming ‘Allahu Akbar’ before being stabbed in back
Richard Livett, 53, was rescued by a soldier and a doctor outside a pub on lock-down
A VICTIM of the London Bridge terror attack has told of the moment he came "nose to nose" with a screaming knife maniac who stabbed him in the back.
Richard Livett, 53, had been out watching football with his brother-in-law when a terrorist sprinted up to him and screamed "Allahu Akhbar".
As he ran for his life he was knifed before banging on the door of a nearby pub and collapsed in a pool of blood.
Mr Livett told an inquest into the deaths of the eight victims how he first thought he was witnessing a road accident when he dived out of the way of the attackers' hire van, which smashed into railings.
He said: "I thought it was an accident, something happened to the driver. I did not know it was a terrorist attack. My recollection is, I even moved towards the van.
"The next sight was a man running straight up right into my face and screamed Allahu Akbar. It happened within a second, a split second, of my turning round.
";I just saw a dark face with a beard and his face was literally an inch or so off, nose to nose."
I think it was a personal mission to get help as quickly as I possibly could. I realised it was quite a serious blow I had taken
Richard Livett
Mr Livett said: "I felt what I thought initially was a punch in the back, which turned out to be him flailing his arm around the back of me and stabbing me.
"I appreciated it very soon afterwards. I just felt the impact initially then withdrawing the knife downwards and I realised what had happened."
Mr Livett said he slumped on the ground for a few seconds before deciding to get up and move away.
He said: "It was chaos all around. I was aware of screaming and shouting and people around me.
"I think it was a personal mission to get help as quickly as I possibly could. I realised it was quite a serious blow I had taken."
'ONE OF THE FIRST STABBED'
The witness described how he began to feel weak and banged on the door of the Globe Tavern, which was on lock-down, before he collapsed outside.
Some people, including a soldier and off-duty doctor, came to his aid.
He went on: "After a time I was aware that we were told to stay in that place for a period of time and the special forces guys came past and let some rounds off right by us, and we still had to stay there for a while until the area was cleared."
He was helped back towards the bridge, where he received medical attention.
"I saw there were people in the middle of the road against the rails being tended to.
"Emergency services were present at that time as well, so there were blankets."
He added: "I believe I was one of the first people to be stabbed. I think they were probably in a real heightened state. They moved away very quickly."
10 MINUTE RAMPAGE
Khuram Butt, 27, Rachid Redouane, 30, and Youssef Zaghba, 22, were shot dead by police less than 10 minutes after they launched their van and knife rampage on London Bridge and in Borough Market.
The attackers killed eight people and injured 48 more as they ran amok in the popular tourist area.
The recent inquest also revealed the youngest victim of the London Bridge terror attack was murdered after she fell over in her high heels while trying to escape, an inquest heard today.
Australian au pair Sara Zelenak, 21, appeared to lose her balance and fell over on the wet pavement and was helped up by a Good Samaritan.
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Brit James McMullan, 32, is believed to have tried to help before they were both set upon by attackers armed with 12in blades and killed, the Old Bailey heard.
Ms Zelenak was stabbed more than once and her helper, Mr McMullan, the only British victim, suffered a wound to his chest.
Xavier Thomas, 45, Christine Archibald, 30, Alexandre Pigeard, 26, Kirsty Boden, 28, Sebastien Belanger, 36, and Ignacio Echeverria, 39, also died in the atrocity before their attackers were shot dead by armed police.
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