the times | Saturday October 17 2020 1GM 21
News
A cocaine-using convicted terrorist
murdered two graduates after failures
by anti-extremism staff and MI5, a
court has been told.
Usman Khan stabbed Jack Merritt
and Saskia Jones while attending a re-
habilitation conference at Fish-
monger’s Hall in the City of London.
Police had given Khan the highest
risk rating when he was released from
jail halfway through a 16-year sentence
after being convicted of a plot to bomb
the London Stock Exchange.
A pre-inquest hearing at the Old Bai-
ley was told that less than a year later he
murdered Mr Merritt, 25, and Ms
Jones, 23, who were involved in a pris-
oner rehabilitation programme at
Cambridge University. Khan, 28, was
shot dead by police while wearing what
appeared to be an explosive suicide
jacket last November. Toxicology tests
showed that he had been using cocaine.
Ms Jones’s family have claimed that
her right to life was breached by the fail-
ings of Cambridge University, Fish-
monger’s Hall, MI5, probation officers
and the government’s anti-extremism
programme.
Jonathan Hough, QC, counsel to the
inquest, said: “It is said to be arguable
that those responsible for arranging Mr
Khan to attend the event did not take
reasonable steps to safeguard against
the risk of him committing the attack.”
Before the attack Khan, from Stoke-
‘String of failures’
led to terror attack
on-Trent, had appeared “withdrawn
and down”. Staff from the probation
service staff and the anti-extremism
programme Prevent had no inkling of
what he was about to do, Mr Hough
said. He added that there was no clear
evidence that Cambridge University
“failed to take reasonable protective
measures”.
Mr Hough said that Khan had regu-
lar contact with probation officers and
“was under consideration by the Secur-
ity Service”. He said there was no evi-
dence about MI5’s monitoring.
Henry Pitchers, QC, representing
Ms Jones’s family, said that when Khan
was freed from jail he had been assessed
by West Midlands police as “at the high-
est level of risk”. He was last visited by
police two weeks before the attack,
when officers found him in a darkened
flat. Staff from Staffordshire Prevent
department have said they had no ex-
perience in dealing with released pris-
oners convicted of terrorism offences.
Khan’s attendance at the conference
was “expressly authorised” by those
monitoring him but the Metropolitan
and City of London police forces, Fish-
monger’s Hall and the Learning To-
gether conference organisers had not
been notified, Mr Pitcher said. “There
was no security check on the door, not
even a rudimentary bag check,” he
added.
Judge Mark Lucraft, QC, fixed an in-
quest date for April 12. A further pre-
hearing is likely to take place in January.David Brown
T
he new
Netflix
comedy
Emily in
Paris has
been criticised by
Francophiles for its
cliché-ridden star.
Selfies on the Seine?
Sacré bleu!
But there is one
thing fashionistas
like about her
(Hannah Rogers
writes). It is made
of wool-felt and
worn by Emily,
played by Lily
Collins, with nearly
every outfit in the
series. Mais oui —
it’s her beret.
Searches for the
Left Bank accessory
have increased 41 per
cent this week,
according to Lyst, a retail
data analyst. Stock of
£1,650 Philip Treacy
berets is low on Net-A-
Porter and £80 black
and pink versions by the
British designer Charles
Jeffrey are sold out at
Matches Fashion, anonline retailer. At John
Lewis, beret sales are up
23 per cent on last year.
You can also buy berets
at Zara, & Other Stories
and Mango this autumn.
Luxury brands started
it. Berets were on
autumn-winter 2020
catwalks at Armani and
Dolce & Gabbana and
subsequently on the front
rows of Milan, Paris and
Copenhagen. But the
accessory has been
trending among the style
set since 2017. When
Maria Grazia Chiuri sent
one down her catwalk
with all 68 looks of Dior’s
winter collection that
year, editors lusted after
it as hotly as the brand’s
handbags and shoes. This
season it costs £740.
Thrifty influencers are
buying Ganni’s new £75
knitted wool beret. It
comes in the same shade
of red as Emily’s. That
some would argue it also
resembles a tea cosy will
not put them off.For a Paris
look par
excellence,
buy a beret
The
influencer
Emili
Sindlev,
left, is a
fan of
the beret,
as were
visitors
to New York
Fashion Week.
The Netflix
show Emily in
Paris, right,
inspires the trendL