This article is from the source 'guardian' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2017/jun/20/finsbury-park-suspect-hired-van-days-before-driving-london-darren-osborne

The article has changed 8 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 1 Version 2
Finsbury Park suspect hired van 'days before driving to London' Finsbury Park suspect ‘made abusive remarks about Palestinian march’
(about 2 hours later)
The suspect in the Finsbury Park mosque attack is believed to have hired the van involved several days before driving to London. The suspect in the Finsbury Park mosque attack allegedly made abusive and aggressive comments about a pro-Palestinian rally that took place in London hours before he drove into a crowd of worshippers.
Neighbours of Darren Osborne, 47, said on Tuesday that he parked the van in a different street to his family home in a Cardiff suburb. Darren Osborne is said to have made the remarks about the al-Quds Day march, which is often targeted by far-right activists, the night before he drove from Cardiff to London.
He was seen telephoning from the van late at night, and one neighbour said he noticed a man sleeping in the vehicle and reported it to the police. Police are using CCTV cameras and automatic numberplate recognition technology to track Osborne’s movements from Cardiff to London.
Further details also emerged of Osborne’s erratic behaviour in the days and weeks before the attack. Some neighbours said he had slept rough in the woods behind the semidetached where his partner and four children lived. They will be able to work out if he was at or near the al-Quds rally, which is organised by the Islamic Human Rights Commission (IHRC) and took place on Sunday afternoon in Westminster, before he headed north-east to Finsbury Park.
According to witnesses, Osborne shouted “I want to kill all Muslims” as he drove a van into a crowd of worshippers in north London in the early hours of Monday morning. One person has died and 11 were injured. Osborne was arrested on suspicion of commission, preparation or instigation of terrorism including murder and attempted murder. It is also now believed that Osborne, 47, hired the van used in the attack several days before leaving for London and slept in it the night before he departed.
Camera phone footage showed him being captured by worshippers, who attacked him as he screamed, “Kill me”. When he was eventually arrested and loaded into the back of a police van in handcuffs, he gestured to the crowd. Police in south Wales have confirmed they found the father of four sleeping in the van after a neighbour phoned them. They judged that no offence had been committed and took no action.
Allegations have also emerged that Osborne had recently spoken aggressively about the pro-Palestinian Al Quds Day rally that took place in London hours before the attack. On Saturday night, Osborne is said to have been in a pub near his home complaining about Muslims – and specifically about the march. Further details have emerged of Osborne’s erratic behaviour in the days and weeks before the attack. Some neighbours said that though he visited the family home in Pentwyn, Cardiff, where his partner and four children lived, he did not stay overnight. He sometimes slept in a tent nearby, they claimed.
Police will be looking at whether he drove anywhere near the march, which took place in central London. The manager of the Hollybush pub, Andy Parker, said: “The gentleman came in and was very political with everyone he spoke to. According to witnesses at Finsbury Park, Osborne shouted: “I want to kill all Muslims” as he drove a van into a crowd of worshippers in the early hours of Monday morning. One person has died and 11 were injured. Osborne was arrested on suspicion of commission, preparation or instigation of terrorism including murder and attempted murder.
“I did not like one bit of it so asked him to leave. But he was pretty surly so the boys stood in and told in no uncertain terms to go.” Camera phone footage showed him being captured by worshippers, who attacked him as he screamed: “Kill me.” When he was eventually arrested and loaded into the back of a police van in handcuffs, he gestured to the crowd.
A well-placed source alleged to the Guardian that Osborne had specifically spoken about the rally. In the past, far-right supporters of the English Defence League have been involved in standoffs with pro-Palestinian demonstrators during the rally. There is no immediate evidence that Osborne was an active member of a far-right organisation. He was not known to the security services, according to Ben Wallace, the security minister.
The rally is not particularly well known – suggesting that Osborne may have been researching it. It began at 3pm on Sunday. But police are continuing to search the family home and investigate his use of computers. Detectives have been granted a warrant to hold Osborne until 12.54am on Saturday 24 June.
Regulars at the Hollybush told how Osborne became very drunk on Saturday night. One said: “He got chucked out as he was so drunk. He was cursing Muslims and saying he would do some damage.” Osborne appears to have a Twitter account, which he has never used to send his own tweets, instead monitoring 32 other users, including Paul Golding and Jayda Fransen, the leaders of the far-right party Britain First. Its mission statement says: “We will restore Christianity as the bedrock and foundation of our national life as it has been for the last one thousand years.” Golding declined to comment.
Residents living near Osborne in Pentwyn, Cardiff, said that over the weekend he had called a 12-year-old Muslim neighbour an “inbred”. It is thought Osborne hired the van from a company in south Wales towards the end of last week.
Some said he was “aggressive” and “strange”. They said it was unclear what he did for work. Some said he was jobless, but bought and sold cars. The Osborne family home is on Glyn Rhosyn (East). Neighbours said the van was parked on a separate cul-de-sac, Glyn Rhosyn (West).
Osborne appears to have a Twitter account, which he has never used to send his own tweets, instead monitoring 32 other users, including Paul Golding and Jayda Fransen, the leaders of the far-right party Britain First. Its mission statement says: “We will restore Christianity as the bedrock and foundation of our national life as it has been for the last one thousand years.” One neighbour said he had seen the van parked on Glyn Rhosyn (West) from Thursday or Friday last week. He said: “Darren used to park his old cars here because there’s not much space on his street. Then this van appeared. As soon as I saw what happened in Finsbury Park I recognised the van.”
Osborne’s neighbour Edward Gardiner said he saw a man sleeping in a van matching the description of the one used in the Finsbury Park attack late on Saturday night.
Gardiner said: “I saw a van with this man lying across the three seats. I went to give him a shake. He just grunted, but his breath smelled of alcohol. I reported it to the police. I don’t know what happened. Then I saw the van and the man’s picture.”
The police have refused to comment.
The Osborne family home is on Glyn Rhosyn (East). Gardiner said the van was parked on a separate cul-de-sac, Glyn Rhosyn (West).
Another neighbour said he had seen the van parked on Glyn Rhosyn (West) from Thursday or Friday last week. He said: “Darren used to park his old cars here because there’s not much space on his street. Then this van appeared. As soon as I saw what happened in Finsbury Park I recognised the van.”
Mary Corke, whose home looks on to Glyn Rhosyn (West), said she had seen the van appear three or four days before the attack. “I looked out one time and he was in the van on the phone. Next morning the van had gone,” she said.Mary Corke, whose home looks on to Glyn Rhosyn (West), said she had seen the van appear three or four days before the attack. “I looked out one time and he was in the van on the phone. Next morning the van had gone,” she said.
Another neighbour, who asked not to be named, said Osborne had an on-off relationship with his partner, Sarah Andrews, a 42-year-old chef. “At one point he was sleeping in a tent in the woods between the house and the golf course,” he said. Osborne’s neighbour Edward Gardiner said he saw a man sleeping in a van matching the description of the one used in the Finsbury Park attack late on Saturday night. Gardiner said: “I saw a van with this man lying across the three seats. I went to give him a shake. He just grunted, but his breath smelled of alcohol. I reported it to the police.”
Osborne was brought up in Weston-super-Mare, Somerset, where members of his family still live. People who said they knew him when he lived there described him as “a fighter” who would “flip” when he drank too much. A South Wales police spokesman said: “At 12.27am on Sunday 18 June South Wales police responded to a call made to the non-emergency 101 number following a report of an insecure van parked on a street.
Police on Tuesday were still at his home, a modern redbrick terrace in the north-east of the city suburbs. It has a Dogs Trust charity sticker in the front window, and a wheelbarrow and child’s toy in the front garden. “Officers attended, a male was asleep inside the vehicle, which showed no signs of having been driven recently. The officers’ assessment was that no offences were disclosed.”
There was no immediate evidence that Osborne was an active member of a far-right organisation. He was not known to the security services, according to Ben Wallace, the security minister. Neighbours in Pentwyn said that over the weekend, Osborne had called a 12-year-old Muslim neighbour an “inbred”.
Osborne’s Muslim neighbour in Cardiff, Khadijh Sherazi, said she had never had any problems with him or his family until last weekend. Her son, Nadeem, 12, said: “I was on my bike and he just came up to me and said, ‘Inbred.’ Just out there [on the road]. It was just a normal voice.” On Saturday night, Osborne was in the Hollybush pub near his home complaining about Muslims – and specifically about the al-Quds march.
Nadeem’s sister, Nadia, 10, said she and her grandmother also heard Osborne in his garden using the same word. “All of a sudden we heard him say, ‘Inbred.’ I said to my nan: ‘Did you hear that?’ She said it was probably to his dogs.” The pub manager, Andy Parker, said: “The gentleman came in and was very political with everyone he spoke to. I did not like one bit of it so asked him to leave. But he was pretty surly so the boys stood in and told him in no uncertain terms to go.”
Osborne was born in Singapore and his mother, sister and nephew live in Weston-super-Mare. A well-placed source alleged to the Guardian that Osborne had specifically spoken about the rally.
The far-right English Defence League has targeted pro-Palestinian demonstrators during previous al-Quds rallies. The IHRC, which organises the march, said that before this year’s event it had been made aware of social media postings threatening violence, including one individual who threatened to drive a van into the march. There is no suggestion this was Osborne.
Before the march the organisers put out a statement saying the event would go ahead regardless. It said: “Despite the misinformation and lies currently being put out and the demonisation of the event that is taking place, the annual al-Quds Day march will still be going ahead.” They also flagged up concerns to the Metropolitan police. An IHRC spokesman said on Tuesday there had been tension but no major incident.
Osborne was brought up in Weston-super-Mare, Somerset, where members of his family still live.
In a statement his family said he had been “troubled for a long time”. It added: “We are massively shocked. It’s unbelievable. It still hasn’t really sunk in. We are devastated for the families. Our hearts go out to the people who have been injured.”In a statement his family said he had been “troubled for a long time”. It added: “We are massively shocked. It’s unbelievable. It still hasn’t really sunk in. We are devastated for the families. Our hearts go out to the people who have been injured.”
Neighbours said he would often shout at her at his former partner and his children in the street.
“He always seemed an aggressive and strange person,” said Rebecca Carpenter. “He never caused us any real problems, but we could often hear him shouting from the other side of the street.”
The vehicle used in the attack was hired from Pontyclun Van Hire, a company based on an industrial estate close to the M4, 12 miles west of Cardiff.