A British man convicted on terror charges after driving a van into a group of Muslim men outside a London mosque has been jailed for a minimum of 43 years.
The sentence means Darren Osborne will spend the rest of his life behind bars, after being found guilty of murder by a London court Thursday.
A jury found the Cardiff-based man guilty of murder and attempting to kill others in the crowd outside the mosque in North London’s Finsbury Park district 19 June.
Makram Ali, aged 51, was killed in the attack which took place during the holy Muslim month of Ramadan, after Osborne had directed his van into the crowd. A local imam protected Osborne from the angry crowd after the attack.
Passing the sentence, Bobbie Cheema-Grubb, the Judge told Osborne, “this was a terrorist attack. You intended to kill”.
Osborne had been “rapidly radicalised” added the judge, saying that his “mindset became one of malevolent hatred”.
“In short you allowed your mind to be poisoned by those who claimed to be leaders.”
After two weeks of evidence, it took the jury one hour on Thursday to find him guilty.
Osborne was radicalised by a BBC TV drama based on child sex crimes committed by Asian men in northern England
Prosecutors painted the picture of a violent, angry and disturbed man who frequently raged against Muslims.
Osborne had claimed a man called “Dave” took over the wheel and drove into the crowd during the attack.
Witnesses denied this and said Osborne shouted “I’ve done my job, you can kill me now” and “at least I had a proper go” to victims and bystanders at the scene.
Islamophobic notes were also found inside the van.
The Crown Prosecution Service said on Thursday Osborne “planned and carried out this attack because of his hatred of Muslims”.
“He later invented an unconvincing story to counter the overwhelming weight of evidence but the jury has convicted him,” said Sue Hemming from the state prosecutors.
“We have been clear throughout that this was a terrorist attack, and he must now face the consequences of his actions.”
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