A hero football fan hurled a pint glass at the London Bridge terrorists in a bid to stop them attacking more victims, an inquest has heard.
Gerard Vowls shouted at the extremists and said, ‘you cowards, come and get me’, after he watched them stab Marie Bondeville, who was set upon during the attack.
The 49-year-old said he just wanted them to ‘concentrate on me and maybe leave the girl and try and save her life.’
Mr Vowls had been in the area watching the Champions League final, and described seeing a man leaning against the wall on the opposite side of the road who said he had been stabbed and had a ‘pain expression in his eyes and blood coming down his side.’
Gerard Vowls (pictured above) took-on the terrorists at London Bridge and tried to distract them
Daniel O’Neill (left) was stabbed by one of the attackers and Robert Piersant (right with his wife) had been stabbed in the face
He recalls seeing people running from the direction of London Bridge and one man was shouting: ‘There’s terrorists, they’re attacking everyone.’
He went to find two British Transport Police officers – Wayne Marques and Leon McLeod – who confronted the men, armed only with their truncheons.
As he went back towards the scene of the attack, he heard a scream.
‘It was a young woman being attacked by the three terrorists. They were not human looking, the expression in their eyes was hatred. They were round in a circle. I could see them thrusting, many, many times, all three of them.
Gerard Vowls (pictured above) tried to warn others that the attackers were moving down the roads
‘The worst part that gives me nightmares, she kept saying, ‘Help me, help me.’ I remember one of them saying, ‘This is for Allah.”
In an act of bravery, he tried to distract the attackers, but backed off when one of them ran at him.
‘I didn’t turn around till I got to the other side. I saw the guy come back and carry on stabbing that lady. After half a minute, less than that, they decided they wanted to move on.’
Mr Vowls shouted: ‘You cowards, you c**ts, come and get me,’ but said: ‘I don’t think they took any notice of me, they headed past the buses. They were jogging, looking left and right for victims so they could attack them.’
Gerard Vowls had been trying to distract the terrorists after he saw them attack Marie Bondeville (pictured above with her boyfriend Oliver Dowling)
He started to warn others of their approach, shouting ‘terrorists.’
‘I was trying to warn as many people as I could,’ he said. ‘I think I may have been in the middle of the road, keeping my distance. I could see people coming from the left side. I was pointing and shouting and people were noticing what I was doing and could see they had knives in their hands and were turning back.’
Daniel O’Neill (pictured above) had been enjoying a drink with friends when the terrorists confronted them
One man walked straight into their path: ‘I screamed at him, ‘Run, run look around.’ By the time he turned around, the terrorists stabbed him in the side.’
Also at the inquest today was Daniel O’Neill, who was having a smoke with friends outside the Southwark Tavern, when he was stabbed by a Moroccan-looking man wearing all-black who cryptically told him: ‘My family in Islam was a mistake.’
‘I saw the knife was in his hand and he started to swing it towards me, aiming for my chest and at that second I twisted to the side and he stabbed me in the side,’ he said.
‘At that point there’s a bit of a black out. I don’t think I fell. I held my side and walked back into the pub and pulled up a chair and sat down and said I think I’ve been stabbed.
‘Everybody was looking at me. I’m not sure why he didn’t stab me again. ‘
The inquest also heard today how an American tourist was saved by a policeman and three off-duty doctors when his heart stopped beating after he was stabbed in the face during the London Bridge attacks.
Robert Piersant, from Colorado Springs, was with his wife and son, visiting their daughter and had been sightseeing for the day before having dinner in the Elephant and Castle area.
They planned to walk along the river, past the Golden Hind ship, back to their hotel, leaving London Bridge tube station after 10pm.
The family had been in the London Bridge area on June 3, 2017, when terrorists struck, killing eight people and injuring 48.
Robert Piersant (pictured above with his now ex-wife Joyce Piersant) arriving at the Old Bailey to give evidence in the ongoing inquest
Police and members of the emergency services were pictured attending victims of a terror attack
Mr Piersant told the inquest into the attack that he had noticed there had been no people on one side of the street and that he thought there would have been more traffic for the time of night, and due to the area they were in.
‘I noticed there were no people on one side of the street. I thought at that time of night in a social neighbourhood like that there would be more traffic.
‘I was looking back to make sure my wife was still with me because she was walking a little slow. As I rotated back forward I noticed a male who looked like he was leaning against a building. He had this funny, angry look, like, ‘What are you doing?’
‘As I continued to straighten myself out, that is when I was run into by another male. He ran at me, like a bull rush, enough to get you off balance but not knock you over. My first thought it’s ten o’clock on a Saturday night near Borough Market, some drunk hit me.’
He added that he pushed the attack away and called him a drunk, it was then he said he noticed a ‘brownish red’ item in his hand, which he referred to as a ‘bowey knife’.
‘As I pushed him back I’m looking at him, he had a bit of an angry look and that’s all I can recall.’
Dr Jonathan Moses (pictured above), who graduated a year-and-a-half before terrorists struck at London Bridge on June 3 2017
Yesterday the inquest heard how off-duty junior doctor Dr Jonathan Moses had apologised to victims for not being able to save them, after he was locked in a restaurant. He was eventually let out and managed to tend to Marie Bondeville, who survived 18 stab wounds, and Spanish banker Ignacio Echeverria, 39, who had tried to protect her with his skateboard before he was fatally wounded.
Mr Piersant was stabbed in the base of his skull and across the lower lip and blacked out, and said he tried to pull himself up off the pavement.
‘I kept trying to pull myself up. I don’t know how long I was out but three doctors came out from the restaurants. I was trying to talk but I couldn’t because my lip was gone and that’s when I started to become conscious of the injuries.’
‘I became aware of blood coming from the back of my head. Having seen a knife in his hands I made the assumption that he went nuts. I took my fingers and put them in the hole in the back of my head to stop the bleeding.
‘One of the doctors ran off muttering very loudly we need a proper first aid kit and came back with blue paper towels.’
The graphic above shows the various points in the London Bridge and the surrounding areas which were affected
A police officer came up, and tried to settle him down and stop him getting to his feet.
‘When I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, he said, ‘Stay with me.’ He did the majority of the CPR.
‘There was gunfire from the direction of the market. I heard two bursts of gunfire and after one, the PC threw himself ontop of me, getting himself between the bullets and me.’
He said the doctors and the police officer were frantically trying to call an ambulance and flag down an ambulance but the ambulances were driving by.
The van (pictured above) which had been used by the terrorists during the attack, before they mounted the pavement
Police officers (pictured above) attending the scene at London Bridge following the attacks in 2017
At one point he lost a pulse and CPR had to be administered, the inquest heard.
‘It was like you see on TV. I heard, ‘I don’t have a pulse, I don’t have breathing’ and I recall flatlining twice.
‘I have no evil thoughts or bad feelings. The people who did this are crazy, I know nothing about their background.
‘I am upset about the state of the politics but stupid people do stupid things. You have to take it in your stride.
‘I am very grateful to the state of the police department and their assistance especially PC Sam Philpot who never left my side. The doctors did great things putting me back together but if it wouldn’t have been for that PC, I wouldn’t have got to the hospital. Thank you,’ he said.
One of the knives used used by the London Bridge terrorists Khuram Shazad Butt, Rachid Redouane and Youssef Zaghba in the attack
Pictured: terrorists Khuram Shazad Butt, Rachid Redouane and Youssef Zaghba
His ex-wife Joyce Piersant was also stabbed and described in a statement how they were surrounded by the three killers.
She said one of them had looked her in the eyes before hesitating, which she described as ‘questioning eyes’.
‘I think he was thinking through something. Then I felt a punch towards the chest, clavicle, on my right hand side. I recall seeing his fist around the handle and the thrusting motion – forward with a downward trajectory.
‘I got the impression he thought it would be enough. I knew he wanted to kill me, I don’t know why, it was in his eyes.’
The victims of the attack (Top, from left) Christine Archibald, James McMullan, Alexandre Pigeard, Sebastien Belanger, (bottom, from left) Kirsty Boden, Sara Zelenak, Xavier Thomas and Ignacio Echeverria
The men screamed and ran off, she said, adding: ‘It was then I saw my husband down on the ground. I could clearly see that my husband was bleeding badly.’
‘I recall feeling in shock, it doesn’t happen to us, the words, ‘I was stabbed by a terrorist’ is not in my vocabulary. I do not want it to be sensationalised or cause any hate. The attackers are non-entities to me and they are dead.’
The inquest also heard today how an Australian tourist was also stabbed in the face, before being offered a pint of beer after he made a miraculous escape to a nearby pub.
Andrew Morrison had been watching the Champions League final with friends when he saw what he initially thought was a brawl on Borough High Street, on that fateful night in 2017.
Mr Morrison came face to face with one of the attackers brandishing a kitchen knife, who he described as having a ‘dark, middle eastern, Islamic appearance.’
In a statement read to the inquest today Mr Morrison said he saw police brandishing batons screaming ‘drop it,’ as people lay motionless on the ground.
Mr Morrison tried to flee the scene but was cornered by one the attackers holding a 30cm ‘everyday kitchen knife’ that ‘appeared to be glowing pink.’
‘I said, ‘wow, wow, wow.’ Then my instant reaction was to put my hands up to protect myself and attempt to duck and dive.’
Mr Morrison managed to avoid most of the blows with the blood-soaked blade but the attacker was making a ‘swinging motion’ and stabbed him to the left side of his cheek and jaw.
The Aussie told how he managed to escape the Jihadi terrorist by running towards a nearby pub.
‘I saw my hands were covered in blood from my open wound and I realised my wound was quite big and deep.
‘I didn’t feel like I had been stabbed, it was more like I had been punched..’
He then managed to make his way into a bar: ‘A few strangers in a pub assisted me and sat me down. Another person offered me a beer.
‘It was like they weren’t sure what was happening – they kept drinking.’
The inquest has heard how Khuram Butt, 27, Rachid Redouane, 30, and Youssef Zaghba, 22, mowed down and stabbed scores of bystanders
Who were the victims of the London Bridge terror attack?
Spaniard Ignacio Echeverria was stabbed to death as he tried to fight off the terrorist attackers with his skateboard.
The 39-year-old had been in the UK for over a year was working as a financial crime analyst at HSBC.
Mr Echeverria joined unarmed police constables Wayne Marques and Charlie Guenigault in fighting off the three attackers as they set upon Marie Bondeville, hitting at least one terrorist with his skateboard.
‘His courageous efforts were to seek to stop the attack,’ Chief Coroner Mark Lucraft said.
Kirsty Boden
Mr Echeverria was the youngest of five siblings and was a Catholic who went to mass every week. He could speak English, German and French fluently.
Nurse Kirsty Boden was fatally stabbed as she tried to tend to the wounded and the dying.
Miss Boden, 28, moved to London in 2013 from the small town of Loxton, in South Australia.
She was a senior staff nurse at Guy’s and St Thomas’ Hospital and lived with her British boyfriend James Hodder in a flat in Hampstead.
Mr Hodder said: ‘She loved people and loved her life helping others. To Kirsty, her actions that night would have been an extension of how she lived her life.’
Alexandre Pigeard
Alexandre Pigeard was working as a waiter at Boro Bistro when he was attacked.
The 26-year-old Frenchman had moved to London to further his ambitions as a dance music DJ.
Minutes before he was fatally stabbed, he video-called his father Philippe during a break from work at the French restaurant.
Mr Pigeard had planned to return to France in the autumn of 2017 to help open a restaurant in Nantes and to record an EP with his musician father.
Mr Pigeard senior told the inquest: ‘I’m present here as a devastated father who has lost a child in such circumstances – an inconsolable father.’
James McMullan
James McMullan was stabbed in the chest near the Barrowboy and Banker pub while he was celebrating getting financial backing for his online education company.
The British-Filipino entrepreneur was watching the Champions League final with friends in the pub.
The 32-year-old, from Hackney in East London, was attacked when he stepped outside to have a cigarette.
He had dreamed of helping children without access to education through his e-learning company.
Mr McMullan’s father Simon described his son as ‘funny, charming and clever’ and said ‘his fearlessness could never be underestimated’.
Sebastien Belanger
The mother of chef Sebastien Belanger said she does not forgive the terrorists who ‘mutilated and killed him’.
Her 36-year-old son was drinking at the Boro Bistro when he was stabbed repeatedly in the chest.
His mother Josiane Belanger said: ‘We miss him so much, his smile, his joie de vivre. I do not forgive what they did to him.’
Originally from Angers in western France, Mr Belanger started work at the Coq d’Argent in the City and was promoted to the role of head chef.
Australian au pair Sara Zelenak was on the ‘trip of a lifetime’ when she was stabbed to death while on a night out with a friend.
Sara Zelenak
Miss Zelenak’s mother Julie Wallace said ‘every sliding door’ put her daughter in ‘harm’s way’.
‘She was meant to be working and at the last minute she got the night off,’ Mrs Wallace said.
‘At 10pm Sara’s phone rang and her friend said ‘I’ve finished at the rugby’ and so she left her safe haven and walked out into a terrorist attack and was stabbed to death.’
Before leaving for UK in March 2017, Miss Zelenak worked with her stepfather Mark as a crane truck operator in Brisbane to save up for her trip.
Her parents have since set up Sarz Sanctuary to help other families to cope with grief.
Xavier Thomas
Xavier Thomas was walking over London Bridge with his girlfriend Christine Delcros when they were hit by the van.
The 45-year-old father-of-two was catapulted into the Thames and his girlfriend suffered life-changing injuries. His body was recovered downstream three days later.
Mr Thomas, who had arrived in London on the day of the attack, lived near Paris and worked for American Express.
Miss Delcros said: ‘Since Xavier disappeared in such tragic and traumatic circumstances our whole world has fallen apart.’
Canadian tourist Christine Archibald told her fiance Tyler Ferguson she loved him seconds before she was mowed down.
Christine Archibald
Miss Archibald and Mr Ferguson were walking across London Bridge after dinning at a nearby restaurant when the atrocity unfolded.
Her fiancé said: ‘At one point Chrissy stopped me out of nowhere, grabbed me close and gave me a passionate kiss after telling me she loved me.
‘I remember it being a warm summer’s evening and the sun had just gone down.. And then the attack took place and Chrissy was killed.
‘No words can express how I felt when this happened. I was absolutely devastated and inconsolable. Nothing has ever been the same since.’
Miss Archibald’s engagement ring was lost during the attack, but later recovered from the bridge. Mr Ferguson now wears it on a chain around his neck.