London Bridge killer Usman Khan penned poem for Learning Together rehab programme he targeted

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Luke O'Reilly2 December 2019
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The man behind the London Bridge attack penned a poem for the rehabilitation programme he targeted, it has emerged.

Usman Khan was reportedly promoted as a success story by Learning Together, the Cambridge University programme that worked with him in prison and after his release.

Former University of Cambridge students Saskia Jones, 23, and Jack Merritt, 25, were fatally stabbed by the 28-year-old at an event linked to Learning Together in Fishmongers' Hall near Borough Market.

Mr Merritt is understood to have worked with Khan on the programme.

Jack Merritt killed in London Bridge attack

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Convicted of terror offences over the failed London Stock Exchange bombing in February 2012, Khan was released from prison on licence in December 2018, halfway through his 16-year prison sentence.

While Learning Together's website appears to have been deleted in the wake of the attack, The Daily Telegraph reported that a cached version of the site appeared to feature Khan as one of the programme's success stories.

Khan was given as a case study of someone who had been "involved with Learning Together a great deal" since his release and who gave a speech via a video link at the Institute of Continuing Education in Cambridge.

He also attended a discussion at his former prison, it said.

London Bridge attack: What we know so far

Khan is said to have written a poem in thanks after Learning Together helped him acquire a computer, the paper reported.

It read: "I write so my words become a soothing light / I write so I can enter the coldest of hearts / I write so I can speak to those locked off / From the world engulfed in the blinding absence of sight / I write so I can express what I feel is right."

The killer was on licence and wearing an electronic monitoring tag when he launched the attack, after he was invited to the prisoner rehabilitation conference on Friday afternoon.

The attack has prompted the Ministry of Justice to review the licence conditions of every convicted terrorist released from prison, which Prime Minister Boris Johnson said was "probably about 74" people.

Jack Merritt's father David asked that his son's death not be used to promote 'vile propaganda' (Reuters)
REUTERS

In a tweet on Sunday evening, Mr Merritt's father David said: "Don't use my son's death, and his and his colleague's photos - to promote your vile propaganda.

"Jack stood against everything you stand for - hatred, division, ignorance."

Saskia Jones - second London Bridge attack victim

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Miss Jones, a volunteer with Learning Together from Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, was described as having a "great passion" for providing support to victims of crime by her family .

In a statement, they said: "She was intent on living life to the full and had a wonderful thirst for knowledge, enabling her to be the best she could be.

"Saskia had a great passion for providing invaluable support to victims of criminal injustice, which led her to the point of recently applying for the police graduate recruitment programme, wishing to specialise in victim support."

Vigil for victims of London Bridge terror attack

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Khan, who was living in Stafford, was given permission to travel into the heart of London by police and the probation service.

He launched the fatal attack at the Learning Together event just before 2pm on Friday.