Reading stabbings: Delay declaring terror attack to paramedics - inquest

The ambulance service responding to the Reading stabbings said there was a delay in learning it was a terrorist attack, an inquest has heard.

South Central Ambulance Service was told the murders in Forbury Gardens was a "marauding terrorist attack" almost 90 minutes after police declared it.

Khairi Saadallah killed James Furlong, 36, Dr David Wails, 49, and Joseph Ritchie-Bennett, 39, in June 2020.

An inquest at the Old Bailey heard the delay had no "causative impact".

Police declared Operation Plato, also known as the national identifier for the response to a marauding terrorist attack, after reports Saadallah, a Libyan refugee, fatally stabbed three men and injured three others - Stephen Young, Patrick Edwards and Nishit Nisudan.

He then threw away the 8in (20cm) knife and ran off, pursued by an off-duty police officer.

A representative for the ambulance service said the delay declaring Operation Pluto was "worrying".

James Amos, head of resilience and specialist operations for the ambulance service, was asked to provide an "unflinching and candid view" of the response to the incident.

He said: "On the night, Operation Plato was declared from an inspector on the scene at 19:48 GMT, but the communication of that declaration between there and our control room did not happen until much later."

The court heard the ambulance service received notification at 21:13.

The inquest heard how a "highly experienced team leader" at the scene did not convey information about the MTA declaration because of the "stress and pressure" of the "once-in-a-career" type event.

Mr Amos said the delay has since prompted changes in the service.

The court heard declarations of Operation Plato would be communicated by police to the ambulance service via a channel that connects the services' control rooms in future, which are monitored 24/7.

In January 2021, Saadallah was handed a whole-life sentence at the Old Bailey after pleading guilty to three murders and three attempted murders.

The inquest was tasked with looking at the management of Saadallah while in prison and on probation, as well as his mental health, and the assessment and response to his risk of terrorism before the attacks.

The inquest continues.

Follow BBC South on Facebook, X, or Instagram. Send your story ideas to [email protected].