LONDON—The police officer in charge of the investigation into the murder of three gay men in a park by an Islamist terrorist in June 2020 has told an inquest the killer appeared to be “pretty indiscriminate” in choosing his targets.
James Furlong, 36, Joe Ritchie-Bennett, 39, and David Wails, 49, were stabbed to death in Forbury Gardens in Reading by Libyan-born Khairi Saadallah—who was facing deportation—on June 20, 2020.
The inquest into their deaths began at the Old Bailey on Monday and Detective Chief Superintendent Oliver Wright, from Counter-Terrorism Policing South East, was asked by counsel to the inquest, Nicholas Moss, KC, if homophobia could have played a part in Saadallah’s attacks.
Mr. Wright said: “My assessment was that KS [Saadallah] targeted these victims because of where they were, not because of who they were,” and he added that his actions were “pretty indiscriminate.”
‘Preparing Himself for Jihad’
“I assess that was him cleansing himself and preparing himself for jihad,” said Mr. Wright.The jury was shown several video clips of the day’s events and also heard 999 calls from a number of people who rang after the attacks, including one man who began chasing Saadallah after seeing him throw the knife away.
As well as the three who died, three other men, Stephen Young, Patrick Edwards, and Nishit Nisudan, were also injured.
Saadallah was later arrested, and in January 2021 he was given a whole-life sentence after pleading guilty to three murders and three attempted murders.
Saadallah—who came to Britain from Libya in 2012 and had several asylum applications rejected—was released from Bullingdon prison 15 days before the attack.
The inquest, which will last six weeks and be chaired by a retired judge, Adrian Fulford, will look at the management of Saadallah while in prison and on probation as well as assessment of his mental health.
Mr. Fulford said the inquest would also consider whether he was correctly assessed regarding the risk of terrorism he posed and he said the jury would hear from witnesses from MI5.
But he told the jury at the inquest, “These are not criminal proceedings and nobody is on trial.”
Killer Described Victims as ‘Wronguns’
At his trial it emerged that Saadallah told police during interviews after the attacks: “I want to plead guilty to the jihad that I done. Those men I killed were wronguns, they deserved it … I’m going to paradise for the jihad what I did to them.”
But on Monday, Joe’s elder brother, Robert Ritchie, described him as “warm and sincere” when he gave a pen portrait of him.
Speaking on an audiolink from the United States, Mr. Ritchie said: “He was a blessing to the entire world. His mere presence made you smile. It took very little effort on his part to make you laugh.”
Mr. Ritchie said he wanted to “focus on how he lived and not how he died” and he described his brother, a U.S. citizen who moved to Britain in 2004, as “lovable, funny, and sincere.”
He said his younger brother met the “love of his life,” an Englishman called Ian Bennett in 2004 and they entered a civil relationship, but Mr. Bennett died in 2014 of colon cancer, aged 32.
Mr. Ritchie’s voice broke with emotion as he described how he found out about his brother’s death on June 21, 2020, which was Father’s Day in the United States.
He said his brother had sent a Father’s Day card to his parents’ address and insisted it was not to be opened until that day.
Family ‘Frozen in Time’
Mr. Ritchie added that his parents had a calendar on their refrigerator which was stuck on June 2020 and he said: “It’s like we are frozen in time. Time has stood still for the Ritchie family.”It has been heard at previous hearings that Saadallah’s deportation to Libya was held up as he was facing trial accused of eating part of a police station mattress and spitting at a police officer in July 2019.
The Home Office emailed Thames Valley Police on May 28, 2020, saying they planned to deport Saadallah but were unable to “until the impending charges had been dealt with.”
The charges were dropped on June 1, 2020, but he had not been deported by the time he carried out the attack 19 days later.
Speaking outside the Old Bailey before the inquest began, Mr. Furlong’s father, Gary Furlong, said, “The families of James Furlong, Dr. David Wails, and Joseph Ritchie-Bennett have waited patiently for three-and-a-half years for this day to arrive.”
“We waited while the criminal investigation into our sons’ deaths took place, while Khairi Saadallah was convicted and sentenced for their murders, and then waited while he appealed against his whole-life sentence. We were glad to see justice served when he lost that appeal,” he added.
“Today, at last, the inquest process begins. We are looking forward to finding the answers to the questions we have held on to for so long,” added Mr. Furlong.
