World

Finsbury Park attacker Darren Osborne jailed for minimum of 43 years

February 2, 2018 4:00 pm

A man who drove a van into a crowd of Muslims near a north London mosque has been sentenced to life in prison, with a minimum term of 43 years behind bars.

Darren Osborne, 48, was found guilty of murdering Makram Ali, 51, after deliberately ploughing into a crowd of people in Finsbury Park in June.

Mrs Justice Cheema-Grubb told Osborne, from Cardiff: “This was a terrorist attack. You intended to kill.”

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Mr Ali’s family said they could not imagine the trauma he felt as he died.

Speaking outside court, his daughter, Ruzina Akhtar, said: “Our father, like the victims of most terrorism, was entirely innocent which makes his death in this violent way all the more hurtful.”

“He was such a peaceful and simple man, he had no bad thoughts for anyone,” she added.

Osborne mowed down worshippers in Finsbury Park shortly after 12.15am on 19 June last year, killing Mr Ali and injuring nine others.

The father-of-four, who was also found guilty of attempted murder, said “God bless you all, thank you”, as he was led away from court.