Family of terror victim call for ‘meaningful change’
Brother of one of three men knifed in park voices concern Reading killer was free to strike in first place
THE family of one of three men murdered in the Reading terror attack have called for “meaningful change” so that no one else will suffer as they did following the failure to deport his killer.
Joseph Ritchie-bennett’s family have spoken out after it emerged that Khairi Saadallah, who was last week sentenced to life in prison for the attack, was a failed asylum seeker radicalised in jail by Omar Brooks, the extremist preacher.
Saadallah stabbed the 39-year-old American to death along with his friends James Furlong, 36, and David Wails, 49, during a rampage in Reading’s Forbury Gardens in June last year.
Speaking yesterday on the eve of what would have been Mr Ritchie-bennett’s
birthday, his brother Robert Ritchie said: “We are hopeful for meaningful change and meaningful changes to be implemented so that no other families, no other family or families, no other people, person or persons, ever have to experience what the Ritchie, the Bennett, the Furlong and the Wails families have experienced.”
Following the sentencing of Saadallah at the Old Bailey, Mr Furlong’s family demanded that Priti Patel, the Home Secretary, explain why he was still in the country at the time of the outrage.
The Ritchie-bennett family said yesterday that they fully backed their call.
Mr Ritchie, a police captain of 24 years’ experience in Philadelphia, added: “We join them in their concerns. We have the exact same concerns and questions, and we look forward to such a time where the Ritchie, the Bennett, the Furlong and the Wails families’ concerns are heard at a formal inquest.”
Asked if he had a message for the Home Secretary, Mr Ritchie said: “We are thankful to her for the lovely letter that she wrote to our family. We look forward to working alongside her during the formal inquest.”
Saadallah, who was a member of the banned Islamic Ansar al-sharia terrorist group in Libya, first sought asylum in the UK in 2012, but was turned down by the Home Office. He appealed against the decision, but was again turned down. However, he was not deported and in 2013 he absconded and was only tracked down months later.
At this point he agreed to leave voluntarily but later changed his mind and despite amassing seven convictions for 19 offences remained in the UK. Just days before the attack and as he was about to be released from prison, Saadallah was informed that the Home Office had concluded his deportation was in the public interest.
Despite this, officials accepted this could not happen immediately because of a “legal barrier”, thought to be the unstable political situation in Libya. The UK has not been able to return anyone to Libya since 2014. It later emerged that while in prison sentence in 2013, he fell under the influence of Brooks.