Finsbury Park attack: Witness describes seeing people 'splattered all over the place'

Worshippers were left "splattered all over the place" after the alleged Finsbury Park mosque terror attack, a court has heard.

The trial of Darren Osborne - who is accused of deliberately driving into a group of Muslims - heard harrowing stories from injured worshippers as they recalled how Makram Ali, 51, who had collapsed on the floor outside a mosque during Ramadan, died during the alleged terror attack.

Mohammed Geedi, 28, was struck by the white van as it accelerated towards the crowd, shortly after 12.15am on June 19, 2017.

He described seeing the headlights of a "big white van" before hearing the noise of an engine and the driver accelerating from gear one into into gear two to "pick up the pace".

Another witness told how the driver's foot appeared "flat" on the accelerator as the van moved towards the crowd, adding: "It was revving its engine as it ran into the people".

Recalling the scene after the impact, Mr Geedi said: "I looked at a lot of people just splattered all over the place".

Prior to the crash, Mr Ali had fallen to the floor, prompting bystanders to rush to his aid, forming a small crowd, and it was this crowd that prosecutors allege Osborne drove at.

Mr Geedi said after the collision Mr Ali's t-shirt was lifted up, his stomach was out, and he had "tyre marks" on his body.

Mr Geedi said he was afraid the driver of the van may have weapons because the London Bridge attack had taken place just weeks earlier.

The driver exited the vehicle and tried to escape on the pavement, Mr Geedi said.

He told the court: "He was very sweaty. He looked very sweaty. Angry."

Another witness, Nouredine Bidi, said the driver appeared to be "very strong" and was behaving "very aggressively".

The 41-year-old said in his statement, read out by the prosecution: "Three to four people tried to grab him to stop him but he kept going and I could see that he was dragging them with him.

"Eventually he was detained by the group of people and the people began to kick and punch him because they were angry about what he had done."

A local imam intervened to get the violence to stop before the police arrived, he added.

Adnan Mohamud, who called 999 following Mr Ali's collapse, said he would never forget the face of the "constantly smiling" van driver after he was wrestled to the ground following the collision.

In a statement read to court, the 28-year-old said: "Whilst this male was on the floor, I remember him saying 'I have done my job, you can kill me now'. He was smiling as he said it."

The jury was also played footage from a police officer's body-worn camera which showed the arrested man laughing and swearing as he sat outside Islington police station hours after the incident.

The man also launches a foul-mouthed tirade in which he says: "Up and down the fucking country they have been doing it for decades, hunting in packs, raping, raping, raping, raping, the inbred f**king bastards, the f**king inbreds."

Osborne, from Cardiff, denies murder and attempted murder.

The trial continues.