A reveller has described how he jumped over a flowerbed and almost trampled on the only Briton to be killed in the London Bridge attack as the terrorists ran amok with bloody knives.
Entrepreneur James McMullan, 32, had been out with friends in the Barrowboy and Banker pub watching the champions League game on the evening of June 3 2017.
When terrorists careered down London Bridge and smashed into railings, he came to the aid of Australian au pair Sara Zelenak, 21.
CCTV showed how she appeared to trip in her high heels as attackers emerged with 12in knives.
![James McMullan, 32, tried to help Sara Zelenak, 21, after she fell over as she ran away from the terrorists, but the pair were stabbed to death](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2019/05/15/17/13439410-7033055-James_McMullan_32_tried_to_help_Sara_Zelenak_21_after_she_fell_o-a-4_1557938789334.jpg)
James McMullan, 32, tried to help Sara Zelenak, 21, after she fell over as she ran away from the terrorists, but the pair were stabbed to death. Miss Zelenak had met up for drinks with her friend Priscila Goncalves near London Bridge before terrorists killed her and seven others
Mr McMullan was helping her up when they were both stabbed, the Old Bailey has heard.
Mr McMullan was later found in an alleyway near to the Boro Bistro restaurant, where Andrius Vorobjovas was celebrating a friend’s birthday.
Mr Vorobjovas described how debris rained down on diners sitting at tables in the courtyard below.
People then ran for their lives when a man emerged wielding a bloody knife which had just been used to stab somebody.
![CCTV shows the 32-year-old entrepreneur James McMullan out with friends in the Barrowboy and Banker pub watching football on the evening of June 3 2017 when the London Bridge terrorist attack happened](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2019/05/15/17/13537976-7033055-image-a-25_1557939525333.jpg)
CCTV shows the 32-year-old entrepreneur James McMullan out with friends in the Barrowboy and Banker pub watching football on the evening of June 3 2017 when the London Bridge terrorist attack happened
![CCTV shows James McMullan, 32, at top of steps to Green Dragon Court, London Bridge, on the night of the attack](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2019/05/15/18/13537974-7033055-CCTV_shows_James_McMullan_32_had_been_out_with_friends_in_the_Ba-a-30_1557939622953.jpg)
CCTV shows James McMullan, 32, at top of steps to Green Dragon Court, London Bridge, on the night of the attack
Mr Vorobjovas said: ‘I saw a man’s blade and a swing away. I saw a bloody blade.’
‘I ran. You could hear the tables moving, glasses smashing, people running.’
He headed to flowerbeds and took refuge behind a trellis in an alleyway.
He said: ‘I nearly stepped on a person on his belly. I was very shocked and amazed to see someone there because I could not figure out how they got there.
‘When I jumped over the flowerbed I nearly stepped on him.’
![CCTV issued by the Metropolitan Police of James McMullan leaving the Barrow Boy and Banker pub](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2019/05/15/18/13538692-7033055-image-a-31_1557939774017.jpg)
CCTV issued by the Metropolitan Police of James McMullan leaving the Barrow Boy and Banker pub
The witness told the court the man, since identified as Mr McMullan, was lying ‘star shaped’ on his front but he did not check on him.
He said: ‘Literally at that moment I thought the individuals are coming our way. I just went down on my knees and tried to hide behind the flowerbed.
‘Whilst I was there I did not see any movement. He was right next to me.’
The witness said he hid in the dark passage for some seconds before he ventured out and ‘decided to make a run for it’.
He emerged on to the main road and shouted at people in another restaurant to run away, he said.
![Simon and Mila McMullan, parents of victim James McMullan, arrive for the opening day of the inquest into the London Bridge terror attack on May 7, 2019 in London, England](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2019/05/15/17/13537982-7033055-image-a-17_1557939400583.jpg)
Simon and Mila McMullan, parents of victim James McMullan, arrive for the opening day of the inquest into the London Bridge terror attack on May 7, 2019 in London, England
![Mila McMullan, mother of victim James McMullan](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2019/05/15/17/13537986-7033055-image-m-24_1557939429291.jpg)
![Simon (left) and Mila McMullan, parents of victim James McMullan, arrive for the opening day of the inquest into the London Bridge terror attack on May 7, 2019 in London, England](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2019/05/15/17/13537984-7033055-image-m-23_1557939420626.jpg)
Simon and Mila McMullan, parents of victim James McMullan, arrive for the opening day of the inquest into the London Bridge terror attack on May 7, 2019 in London, England
Mr Vorobjovas said he later directed armed officers back to the courtyard of the Boro Bistro before he met his wife, who took him home.
Gareth Patterson QC, for Mr McMullan’s family, said: ‘You explain how you jumped over a trellis of flowerbeds. You said you stayed there for between 15 and 30 seconds, presumably you were looking around to see what was going on with the attack?
‘You were thinking about avoiding the attackers and to get yourself out of danger. So presumably you were not paying particularly close attention to the man on the ground.’
The witness replied: ‘That’s correct. I did not check. I was sitting right next to him virtually but I was expecting someone to come my way any moment.’
![Australian Ms Zelenak was stabbed in the neck after she fell over in her high heels. She is pictured earlier that evening](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2019/05/15/17/13441228-7033055-Australian_Ms_Zelenak_was_stabbed_in_the_neck_after_she_fell_ove-m-13_1557939235964.jpg)
![Australian Ms Zelenak was stabbed in the neck after she fell over in her high heels. She is pictured earlier that evening](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2019/05/15/17/13441112-7033055-Australian_Ms_Zelenak_was_stabbed_in_the_neck_after_she_fell_ove-m-15_1557939252238.jpg)
Australian Ms Zelenak was stabbed in the neck after she fell over in her high heels. She is pictured earlier that evening
Mr Patterson said: ‘You described everyone was running for their lives and getting out of harm’s way. You said ‘I was worried for my life’ is that right?’
He agreed, adding that Mr McMullan was not moving.
The lawyer said a post-mortem examination did not reveal any evidence that Mr McMullan had fallen from above.
Mr McMullan and Ms Zelenak were among eight people killed by the three attackers who were shot dead by armed police.
CCTV showed McMullan entering the pub just after 7pm and greeting his friends, then standing with his hands on his hips, chatting to them in front of the bar.
![Emergency services are pictured swarming London Bridge and the surrounding area on the night of the terror attack in 2017](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2019/05/14/01/13438558-7023345-Emergency_services_are_pictured_swarming_London_Bridge_and_the_s-a-20_1557793599313.jpg)
Emergency services are pictured swarming London Bridge and the surrounding area on the night of the terror attack in 2017
Footage showed the pub packed as Mr McMullan slipped out for a cigarette four times during the final of the game, which was being shown on screens in the pub.
At 10.04pm, Mr McMullan left for a last time for a cigarette and was not allowed back in by the bouncers.
The lights from a number 43 bus turning out of the station, caught him in a grey t-shirt and black jeans, standing at the top of some stone steps, a few yards from where the van later crashed.
![Pictured: the battered Renault van used by terrorists during the attack on London Bridge in 2017, leaving it with its bumper hanging off](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2019/05/14/01/13208542-7023345-Pictured_the_battered_Renault_van_used_by_terrorists_during_the_-a-23_1557793599319.jpg)
Pictured: the battered Renault van used by terrorists during the attack on London Bridge in 2017, leaving it with its bumper hanging off
![Pictured: Sara Zelenak's friend Priscila Goncalves outside the Old Bailey in London on Monday](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2019/05/14/01/13438548-7023345-Pictured_Sara_Zelenak_s_friend_Priscila_Goncalves_outside_the_Ol-a-17_1557793599104.jpg)
![Ms Zelenak's parents Julie, 52, and Mark Wallace, 51, are pictured at the Old Bailey on Monday](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2019/05/15/17/13438546-7033055-Ms_Zelenak_s_parents_Julie_52_and_Mark_Wallace_51_are_pictured_a-a-16_1557939271262.jpg)
Ms Zelenak’s friend Priscila Goncalves is pictured at the Old Bailey in London on Monday, left, with her parents Julie, 52, and Mark Wallace, 51, right
He was on the phone to his friends inside the pub telling them he was going down to the Boro Bistro in the courtyard below for a drink, and appeared to move in that direction, one and a half minutes before the crash.
Mr McMullan had called his mother the previous morning to tell her his e-learning platform, to help children with no access to education, had received financial backing and he was going to celebrate with friends.
Erick Siguenza had earlier told the inquest that he saw McMullan try to rescue Miss Zelenak.
‘A woman who jumped out of the way of the van crashing was lying on the floor and they started stabbing her and a gentlemen was trying to help her up and that’s when he was stabbed as well,’ he told the inquest.
‘The woman, I believe was on her left side as she was lying on the floor and the gentleman I believe was stabbed in his chest in his heart area.’
Dusan Trivic was looking down into the courtyard and saw Mr McMullan running into the courtyard with Rachid Redouane, one of the attacker, and then disappear down an alleyway.
Mr Vorobjovas, explained the moments before he came to sheltered behind a flower bed where Mr McMullan lay, said he saw Redouane ‘walking with a purpose’ and that he ‘looked like he wanted to harm as many people as possible.’
‘You could just hear the tables moving, glasses smashing and running in all the direction they could, and I did the same,’ he told the inquest.
‘I could see a small passage and they had some kind of garden placed there and I jumped over it.’
PC Suial Miah, arrived on the scene and was directed to the court yard by a member of the public.
‘I ran down the stairs to see one victim being tended to by police officers. I then saw another area, a courtyard to the right there was darkness and I thought I could see a body lying there,’ he said.
![London Bridge attackers Khuram Butt, Rachid Redouane, 30, and Youssef Zaghba, 22, were shot dead by police](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2019/05/15/18/13187858-7033055-Attackers_Rachid_Redouane_30_and_Youssef_Zaghba_22_were_also_sho-m-39_1557940745450.jpg)
London Bridge attackers Khuram Butt, Rachid Redouane, 30, and Youssef Zaghba, 22, were shot dead by police
They conducted CPR for half an hour without getting a response and at 10.42pm, PC Miah could be heard on his bodyworn camera saying: ‘Mate I don’t think anyone knows we are down here to be honest with you.’
A British Transport Police officer with him replied: ‘They do they do, I’ve put it up on the radio,’ then added: ‘We need ambulances down here.’
Soon afterwards they were told the area was unsafe and they should evacuate the Mr McMullen. He was declared dead by an ambulance officer at 10.54pm
The inquest continues into the deaths of Xavier Thomas, 45, Christine Archibald, 30, James McMullan, 32, Alexandre Pigeard, 26, Kirsty Boden, 28, Sebastien Belanger, 36, Sara Zelenak, 21, and Ignacio Echeverria Miralles de Imperial, 39.