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Fishmongers' Hall: Usman Khan's suicide belt 'looked real'

Met Police Fake suicide vestMet Police
Usman Khan's suicide vest had to be treated as viable until proven otherwise

The suicide belt worn by the Fishmongers' Hall terrorist when he was shot by police looked like a realistic device, an expert has told his inquest.

Usman Khan killed Saskia Jones, 23, and Jack Merritt, 25, at a prisoner rehabilitation conference at Fishmongers' Hall on 29 November 2019.

The "elaborate hoax", worn under Khan's coat, was fashioned using a weightlifting belt, an Xbox controller, a battery charger and cling film.

Khan was shot dead on London Bridge.

Police giving evidence at Khan's inquest previously described how they were trained to treat devices capable of causing mass destruction as viable until proven otherwise.

Matthew Middleditch, the technical lead of the Met Police's explosives ordnance disposal unit, described how he agreed with a report from the UK's Bomb Disposal Centre that Khan's device was "an elaborate hoax, with what appears to be some effort made to manufacture a reasonable facsimile of a suicide belt".

Met Police Still from a video clip showing Usman Khan praising Learning TogetherMet Police
Khan was heard to shout "Allahu Akbar" after first being shot by police

Mr Middleditch told inquest jurors at the Guildhall in the City of London on Monday that the belt was "a very good facsimile of a person-borne IED (improvised explosive device)".

He said it compared well with real devices he had seen during his quarter-century career as an explosives expert, including several years serving with the military in Iraq and Afghanistan.

"I would have thought I was looking at a real person-borne IED," he told the jury.

Map showing location of incident at London Bridge

Jonathan Hough QC, counsel to the inquest, asked Mr Middleditch: "Would you expect any officer to be able to recognise this device as a hoax device, whether by close inspection or by inspection from a distance?"

Mr Middleditch replied: "No I wouldn't, sir."

The inquest has heard how Khan struck 11 months after being released from prison. He served eight years for planning a terrorist training camp in Pakistan.

Met Police Saskia Jones and Jack MerrittMet Police
University of Cambridge graduates Saskia Jones and Jack Merritt were unlawfully killed by Usman Khan, a previous inquest jury found

Khan, from Stafford, is alleged to have shouted "Allahu Akbar" after first being shot by police, before writhing around on the ground for eight minutes, then sitting upright and staring at firearms officers who opened fire again.

The 28-year-old's death was confirmed roughly an hour later when the scene had been made safe.

The inquest is due to conclude later this week.