London Bridge terror attack 'Hero' turns out to be former convict

The 48-year-old man who attempted to subdue the London Bridge attacker with a fire extinguisher has been named as a convicted killer who was mentored by one of the victims. In a heroic attempt, John Crilly directed the hose at the attacker Usman Khan during his knife attacks last Friday, which left Jack Merritt, 25, and Saskia Jones, 23, dead. Crilly had been with the victims at a prisoner rehabilitation conference in nearby Fishmongers’ Hall where Khan launched the attack.

The terrorist went on the rampage with kitchen knives injuring more at the spot. Just then the bystanders, including a Polish man brandishing a narwhal tusk and others with fire extinguishers, caught hold of Khan, who was wearing a fake suicide vest, wrestling him to the ground. The police then shot the terrorist dead.

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Shares thoughts on Facebook

In an emotional Facebook post, John Crilly praised Jack Merritt as the “best guy I ever met” and told how he mentored him as part of the Learning Together programme. “He educated me. Jack came all the way from Cambridge to be at my graduation in Manchester. How proud am I to be called Jack Merritt’s friend.” Crilly also claimed that Merritt, who was a coordinator of the programme, had also directly mentored Usman Khan. “Jack actually tried helping this guy! To educate him,” he wrote. In another post, he wrote, "RIP Jack. Love you! Missing you so much already.”

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Hero a convicted criminal?

A British tabloid reported that Crilly met Merritt when the Cambridge University-based Learning Together scheme began working with inmates at HMP Grendon in Buckinghamshire. Crilly was released from prison in 2018 after earning an Open University law degree in prison. He had originally been found guilty of murder and robbery and given a life sentence in 2015, but had the conviction quashed because it was made under controversial “joint enterprise” rules. They are used to convict defendants in group-related cases, where it is argued that they foresaw deadly attacks even if they did not strike the fatal blow.

In 2016, the Supreme Court found the law had been misinterpreted and Crilly is one of several people to have launched appeals as a result. After his murder conviction was quashed, Crilly pleaded guilty to manslaughter. He and associate David Flynn broke into the home of 71-year-old Augustine Maduemezia, who died after being punched in the face by Flynn.

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(With inputs from agencies)