Man found guilty of fatal London mosque attack

Darren Osborne, a self-radicalised jobless alcoholic, drove a van into a group of Muslim worshippers in June last year, killing one man and severely injuring two others.

A woman looks at tributes placed at the scene of an attack where a man drove into a group of people near a mosque in the Finsbury Park area of north London in June 2017.
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A woman looks at tributes placed at the scene of an attack where a man drove into a group of people near a mosque in the Finsbury Park area of north London in June 2017.

A man who drove a van into a group of Muslim worshippers near a London mosque was found guilty on Thursday of murder. 

Darren Osborne, 48, was convicted of murdering 51-year-old Makram Ali and trying to kill others in the Finsbury Park area of north London on June 19.

Prosecutors said they were "clear throughout that this was a terrorist attack".

Unemployed loner Osborne had pleaded not guilty, telling London's Woolwich Crown Court that a man called "Dave" was driving at the time -- a claim police denounced as a fabrication.

Witnesses recalled Osborne saying: "I've done my job, you can kill me now" and "at least I had a proper go" in the immediate aftermath of the attack.

After two weeks of evidence, the jury took one hour to find him guilty.

Intent to kill

Osborne, a father of four, had a history of depression and alcoholism and was living in a tent.

He hired a van and drove to London intent on ploughing into a pro-Palestinian march, but was prevented from doing so by road closures.

He told his trial that he hoped to kill the leftist Labour opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn in the attack, as it would have been "one less terrorist off our streets", while killing Labour London Mayor Sadiq Khan as well "would have been like winning the lottery".

Osborne then drove around London looking for a target before heading to Finsbury Park, where worshippers were leaving a mosque and an Islamic centre after Ramadan evening prayers.

A crowd had gathered around Ali, who had collapsed in a sidestreet, and Osborne careered into them, killing Ali and wounding 12 others, including two who sustained life-changing injuries.

He tried to escape on foot but was floored by witnesses. A local imam prevented him from being badly beaten up by the crowd.

A handwritten note found in the van read: "Why are their terrorists on our streets today?

"Don't people get it? This is happening up and down our green and pleasant land.

"Islam's ideology doesn't belong here and neither does sharia law."

He will be sentenced on Friday.

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