Fishmonger’s Hall Investigation: Attacker Usman Khan Could Have “Prepared and Handled” Probation Officer | UK News

A probation officer could have been “treated and manipulated” by the terrorist he was trying to rehabilitate, before his decision to allow him to go to Fishmongers’ Hall where he killed two people, according to an investigation.

The decision to authorize Usman Khan going to London should not have been taken by a “single” probation officer with limited experience with terrorist prisoners, Sonia Flynn, the chief probation officer said at the attack inquiry.

Officers dealing with terrorists released from prison have been warned that they may have a “well-rehearsed scenario” to rule out attempts to assess the risk they posed, according to the investigation.

But Khan’s probation officer should have received more support from police and specialist psychologists, Flynn told the inquest.

She gave the family of the victims her “personal pledge” to put in place new measures to prevent a similar attack.

Khan stabbed and killed Jack merritt, 25 and Saskia Jones, 23, workers from a Cambridge University prisoner rehabilitation project, at a conference at the Fishmongers livery company on November 29, 2019.

He was wearing a fake suicide vest and was shot dead by armed police on London Bridge 13 minutes after the attack began.

Khan had been released from Whitemoor Category A Prison as a “high risk” terrorist offender 11 months earlier.

The investigation learned that the Offender Assessment System (OASys) notice read: “Extremist offenders may have a well-prepared scenario in relation to their offense and may not be open or forthright in their thinking, their associations and affiliations.

“They may have been briefed by associates on how to respond to professionals.”

Jonathan Hough QC, for the coroner, asked: “It is fair to say that there is another …