SLIPPED THE NET
Reading terror attacker Khairi Saadallah who executed three men in stabbing park rampage evaded being deported 5 times
A TERRORIST who stabbed three men to death in a park was today given a whole life sentence as fury erupted over why he was allowed to remain in Britain.
Libyan refugee Khairi Saadallah, 26, shouted "Allahu akhbar" as he fatally knifed friends James Furlong, 36, David Wails, 49, and Joseph Ritchie-Bennett, 39, in just ten seconds.
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And it was today revealed he had wriggled out of five attempts by the Home Office to deport him before going on his knife rampage in Forbury Gardens, Reading - with police saying it took Saadallah less than TEN SECONDS to kill the three men.
Three other people - Stephen Young, Patrick Edwards and Nishit Nisudan - were also injured in the minute-long attack before Saadallah threw away the knife and ran off, pursued by an off-duty police officer on June 20 last year.
Saadallah, wearing a grey jacket over a sweater and a red and white hat, showed no emotion as he was sentenced to life behind bars after pleading guilty to three murders and three attempted murders at the Old Bailey.
The whole life order means he will serve the sentence without any possibility of parole or conditional release.
He was also sentenced to 24 years' imprisonment for each of the three attempted murder charges to run concurrently.
Mr Justice Sweeney said he had "no doubt that this is a rare and exceptional case in which just punishment requires you must be kept in prison for the rest of your life".
He added: "His attack on them was so swift, ruthless and brutal that none of them had any chance to react, let alone to defend themselves.
"Using his combat experience in each of their cases the defendant targeted a vulnerable area where a single thrust of the knife would, as he intended, inevitably cause death."
The judge said the 26-year-old, of Reading, had done substantial planning - rejecting the argument that Saadallah was suffering a mental illness at the time.
He added: "During the course of the attack and afterwards and because he was seeking to advance a political, religious or ideological cause, the defendant was shouting in Arabic, 'God is the greatest' and 'God accept my jihad'."
QUESTIONS TO ANSWER
But questions have been raised after the case over how Saadallah was allowed to remain in the UK despite repeated attempts to evict him and absconding on three occasions while awaiting deportation.
Before the Reading attack, Saadallah came to the attention of MI5 following a report he was planning to travel to Syria, but was dismissed as a “low level” threat.
He had also been referred to the Government’s Prevent de-radicalisation programme, but had never attended any courses.
The tearaway racked up seven convictions for 19 offences and served four prison sentences for violence, racism, possessing offensive weapons and cruelty to animals.
Before coming to the UK, Saadallah was a teenage gunslinger in Libya and part of an Islamist militia now proscribed by the British Government.
A photograph showed him aged 16 in Tripoli with a Kalashnikov assault rifle fighting with the Islamist militia Ansar al-Sharia – the year before Britain welcomed him.
He first came here aged 17 in April 2012 and moved with his father to Manchester.
Saadallah was given a six-month visitor’s visa but his claim for asylum was rejected in December that year because of his links to Islamist rebels.
An appeal was dismissed in February the following year and Saadallah absconded before being arrested in June 2013.
He then agreed to “voluntary removal” from the UK before changing his mind and absconding again. Despite his appalling criminal record, the Home Office were powerless to deport him from 2017 onwards when the immigration courts ruled it was too dangerous to repatriate anyone to Libya.
Saadallah himself evaded three further attempts to evict him between 2016 and 2018.
He absconded for a third time when he was served a deportation order in 2017 following his release from a jail sentence.
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His victims' families appeared emotional as the sentenced was handed down with one yelling 'b*****d' as Saadallah walked from the dock to begin his sentence.
And the family of victim James Furlong spoke of their fury, with Gary Furlong saying "serious" questions had to be asked.
Speaking outside of court, he said: "He was released back into society and was freely able to commit this horrendous act on the public."
Prosecutor Alison Morgan QC had previously told the court Saadallah wanted to kill as many people as possible in the name of violent jihad.
She said: "The defendant was aiming to inflict the maximum amount of damage in the shortest possible time to allow him to kill as many people as possible.
"In effect, the killings of Joseph Ritchie-Bennett, David Wails and James Furlong were highly effective executions."
Ms Morgan said the defendant was "ruthlessly efficient" in his actions, having planned and executed the attack with "determination and precision".
'RUTHLESS'
CCTV footage released by counter-terrorism cops shows Saadallah leaving his flat and stopping next to some bins before carrying out the attack.
He is then seen chasing across the park after people as they flee before running in the opposite direction.
As he was detained, a Muslim member of the public told him: "You have nothing to do with Islam, b*****d," adding: "I am just livid."
And Detective Chief Superintendent Kath Barnes, QPM, head of CTPSE, said he killed his three victims in just ten seconds.
She said: “The horrors of this incident took just a single minute to unfold. It took him less than 10 seconds to kill three innocent men, and he then went on to attack and tried to kill another three men before running off towards the town centre.
“In that tiny timeframe, he changed the lives of all those involved forever."
Since arriving in Britain in 2012, Saadallah had been convicted of various offences including theft and assault.
During his time at HMP Bullingdon, he sought out the company of prominent radical preacher Omar Brooks, who is associated with the banned terrorist organisation Al-Muhajiroun.
Saadallah was released from HMP Bullingdon on June 5 last year.
He set about researching the location for his attack, carrying out reconnaissance, and bought a knife at Morrisons supermarket.
He had contact with his probation officer and was visited by police on June 19 - a day before the attack - over concern for his mental state.
Body cam footage taken by cops show killer Saadallah successfully convincing officers he was getting himself together and was looking forward to taking a job as a gardener.
In a two minute exchange, officers can be seen questioning how he is feeling and appear happy with his answers before leaving.
Unknown to the officers visiting, Saadallah was already planning out his deadly attack and had purchased the knife he used to violently kill three.
A psychiatrist had since concluded that the events of June 20 were "unrelated to the effects of either mental disorder or substance misuse".
What is a whole life order?
Prisoners who are sentenced to a whole life order must serve their time without the possibility of parole.
They can only be issued to those who committed their crimes when they were over the age of 21.
Ian Brady, Ian Huntley and Harold Shipman are among the notorious prisoners who have faced this lifetime sentence.
While whole life orders mean that inmates will by kept incarcerated until death, this doesn't happen in every case.
The Home Secretary may grant release in exceptional circumstances, such as if a prisoner is of a great age or in ill health.
Mr Furlong was described as "a remarkable person, an unfailingly kind and compassionate man" in a victim impact statement by his family.
Mr Ritchie-Bennett's mother Charlene said: "Everyone loved Joe and he always included everyone in his life. He cared deeply for family, friends and co-workers.
"He always saw the good in people and accepted them as we accepted him."
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Joan Wails, the mother of Mr Wails, said: "There was no sense in David's death, it was cruel, inhumane and cowardly. The pain I feel in my heart is unbearable.
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"What this person did to David and his two friends is monstrous. That's what my family and I refer to him as, a monster."
In mitigation, Rossano Scamardella QC argued against a whole life order due to a lack "significant planning or premeditation".
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Horrific moment killer stabs three men to death while screaming 'Allahu Akbar'in minute-long park rampage