Terror leader cuffed by PC who spotted ‘suicide vest’
THE leader of the London Bridge attack was writhing on the floor in a fake suicide vest with his ‘eyes open’ before he was shot dead, an inquest has heard.
Khuram Butt was handcuffed on the ground by PC Tim Andrews, who had shouted ‘shoot him, shoot him’ after the knife-wielding Daesh fanatic rushed within ‘two or three yards’ of an armed officer, the Old Bailey was told.
‘He fell to the floor pretty soon, I would say immediately. One of the officers was shouting “cuffs, cuffs”,’ PC Andrews said.
Wearing an Arsenal football shirt, Butt, 27, was said to be ‘rolling from side to side’ in a pool of blood outside the Wheatsheaf pub in Borough Market.
‘He had his hands clutched on his chest and he was covered in blood. He was moving his arms,’ said PC Andrews, who described Butt’s ‘eyes opening’.
He said Butt did not react as he handcuffed him. He added: ‘Round his waist I could see he had a brown belt on and what appeared to be some plastic bottles that had been taped.’ PC Andrews said he thought it was a ‘suicide belt’ and told the armed officer who warned everyone to back away before Butt was shot dead.
A stray bullet that smashed through a window of the pub hit bystander Neil McLelland in the head. He received first aid and has since recovered. Simon Edwards, who was also in the pub, recalled seeing Butt’s ‘calm’ face as he tried to smash his way into the venue.
He said the killer’s 12in kitchen knife was ‘glowing red’ in the dark as he marched towards terrified bystanders.
Butt, Rachide Redouane and Youssef Zaghba were all shot dead by police during the attack that killed eight people on June 3, 2017. The inquest continues.