London terrorist Sudesh Amman was freed from jail despite telling inmates he wanted to kill an MP.
A prisoner claimed Amman told him he wanted to copy the murder of Jo Cox, saying: ‘The only way to get these filthy non-believers out of Syria is to take out MPs like that white guy did with the lady in 2016.’
Official sources said the fanatic associated with extremists behind bars and praised the London Bridge terror attack in November.
Ten days after his release Amman was shot dead in the midst of a knife rampage in Streatham on Sunday.
He was being trailed by a team of between 20 and 25 officers because Scotland Yard and MI5 were convinced he would carry out a murderous attack after his release.
Sudesh Amman reportedly told another prison inmate that he wanted to kill an MP while at Belmarsh prison
A prisoner claimed that terrorist Amman told him he wanted to copy the murder of Jo Cox
Official sources said the fanatic associated with extremists behind bars at Belmarsh (pictured) and praised the London Bridge terror attack in November
Police confirmed last night that Amman (pictured as a teen) was shot dead just 60 seconds after he launched his assault
It is thought that around five surveillance officers would have been directly trailing Amman (pictured as a child) at any one time
The 20-year-old was one of only ten convicted terrorists thought to pose enough threat to be kept under 24-hour surveillance by the Met’s elite SO15 unit. They trailed him on foot, with unmarked cars and motorcycles in close support.
Police confirmed last night that Amman was shot dead just 60 seconds after he launched his assault. Officers had been on his tail since he left an address near the attack in south London.
A security source said: ‘We had serious concerns about his mindset before he went in and his time in prison didn’t alleviate those concerns, it was a consistently concerning picture. The fact that there were armed people involved in that operation, that is not routine.
‘By no stretch are all surveillance teams armed. It is resource intensive and only afforded where there is significant need.’
The Times reported that the fellow inmate at Belmarsh in south-east London said Amman was a volatile and outspoken extremist who ‘wanted to do something real, something organised like the [IRA] used to’.
The Muslim convert convicted for drugs offences and violence said Amman was ‘strange’ and prone to mood swings and jihadist outbursts. He added: ‘I’ve served time with a lot of convicted terrorists, but this guy was definitely the scariest – his eyes had no life in them.’
It is thought that around five surveillance officers would have been directly trailing Amman at any one time. They would have been in close touch with command and backup units. In other developments:
- Britain was facing an ‘unprecedented situation of severe gravity’ as ministers vowed to bring in emergency laws to end the automatic release of up to 220 terrorists;
- Sources said Amman failed to attend de-radicalisation courses in prison.
- He was described by school friends as a dope-smoking weirdo who vowed: ‘When I grow up I am going to be a terrorist’;
- His ex-girlfriend described their relationship as ‘one of the worst experiences of my life’;
- One of the two people he stabbed was revealed to be a nursery teacher who had been out for coffee with her friends;
- Police raided the home of Amman’s associate, a drug dealer who is understood to have met the terrorist while playing video games online.
A short time after leaving prison Amman had scouted the Streatham High Road hardware store where he stole the knife and launched his attack.
He returned there on Sunday afternoon and dived inside, possibly realising he was being followed and hoping he could catch officers off guard and carry out his deadly plans. However armed police were just 50 yards away.
They sprang into action and stopped his stabbing spree. Amman, who was wearing a fake suicide vest, was shot dead on the pavement outside a Boots chemist. Sources revealed that Amman’s initial visit to the shop was a key factor in the decision to ramp up surveillance to an armed, 24-hour operation. The shop sells products including knifes and electrical items.
Armed police shot dead extremist Amman after he grabbed a knife from a shop and stabbed a man and a woman in a brutal high-street rampage in Streatham, South London, yesterday
Amman lays dead on the pavement on Streatham High Road after being shot dead by undercover police officers
Police had been on high alert since January 23, when the Islamic extremist walked out of Belmarsh after serving half of a 40-month sentence for possessing and distributing terrorist documents.
Amman had been staying at a bail hostel off the High Road. Richard Walton, former head of the Metropolitan Police Counter Terrorism Command, said the covert operation was a ‘major and complex undertaking’ with a large number of officers.
Police and MI5 are able to monitor a maximum of only ten individuals because of the extraordinary cost, which is put at more than £2million a year.
Weekly meetings are held to determine which suspects should receive the most intense and costly surveillance. Firearms officers are called in only if a deadly attack is considered imminent. On Amman’s release, 25 licence conditions were drawn up to control almost every aspect of his life. These are thought to have included a curfew and prohibitions on him contacting other extremists.
Police officers inspect the Sudesh Amman, 19, lying face down on Streatham High Road at around 2pm on Sunday (left) and officers suddenly backing off (right)
Streatham terrorist Sudesh Amman is pictured as a young boy while holding a vacuum cleaner in his living room
A Scotland Yard spokesman said: ‘Revealing details of this surveillance operation could undermine police tactics used to investigate terrorists and other criminals across the UK.
‘Detectives from the Met’s Counter Terrorism Command continue to carry out fast-time enquiries into the circumstances of the attack.
‘We have identified around 50 witnesses from whom we are gathering statements, and we have recovered and are trawling hours of CCTV footage.’
Amman could have been forced to stay in prison had he been jailed just four months later. Rules around his offence of possessing terrorist material were changed in April 2019 to require a parole board interview before release.
He was sentenced the previous December.