First police officer at scene of London Bridge terror attack recalls horror in public for first time
"I just remember thinking I'm the one here that's got to keep everything under control. I'm the police officer, it's gone very wrong if I look like I'm panicking."
The police officer who was first at the scene of the London Bridge attack has spoken publicly about the terror she faced as she helped victims.
Eight victims, plus three terrorists, were killed when a van was driven at people in the busy area of central London.
The driver and passengers engaged in a stabbing spree around Borough Market.
PC Kerr gave evidence to the inquest and was praised for her response to the attack.
PC Mia Kerr was the first officer at the scene in the immediate aftermath of the attack, despite only being a police officer for a year.
She'd been in the area to respond to a fight at a pub but soon found herself in a vulnerable position.
Kerr protected injured people at the bottom of a set of stairs leading from London Bridge to Borough Market.
One of the people she found at the scene was French-born Sebastien Belanger, who later died of his injuries.
Speaking to the media for the first time since the attack, she said: "I just remember thinking that we are potentially in a lot of danger. I did feel vulnerable where we were, mainly because of the positioning of the entrances and exits.
"I felt like if they'd passed there, if the terrorists had gone in there, there's only one or two ways they could have gone on to. I was quite conscious that I had to protect the people down there from any future threat.
"All I had at the time was my baton, I'm not going to use CS spray for that, that just wouldn't work.
"So I just got my baton out and made sure that if I was faced with any danger I don't know what that would have done, but I decided that's what I would use and make sure there was no one else that got injured.
"I remember thinking 'Oh my God, nobody is going to know I'm down here,' because it's off ground level.
"I don't think I knew about the little steps that went down there before that day, so I just remember thinking I hope someone knows where I am.
"It felt like a little dungeon, all cobbled. I just didn't know if anyone was going to find me.
"I just remember thinking I'm the one here that's got to keep everything under control. I'm the police officer; it's gone very wrong if I look like I'm panicking, people were looking to me for help. So I had to do everything I could."