Vigil to be held in honour of victims killed in London Bridge terror attack

A vigil will be held to pay tribute to the victims killed in the London Bridge terror attack and to honour the emergency services and members of the public who responded to the incident.

Former University of Cambridge students Saskia Jones, 23, and Jack Merritt, 25, were fatally stabbed by 28-year-old convicted terrorist Usman Khan in Friday’s attack.

Mayor Sadiq Khan will be among those who are due to gather at 11am on Monday morning at a remembrance service at Guildhall Yard, where Londoners will be able to lay flowers.

It comes as West Midlands Police said a 34-year-old man arrested in Stoke-on-Trent on suspicion of preparation of terrorist acts has been recalled to prison due to a suspected breach of his licence conditions.

Officers from the West Midlands Counter Terrorism Unit arrested the man after a search of his home address on Saturday and inquiries into the suspected offences are continuing.

The force has said that there is no information to suggest that the arrested man was involved in the incident at London Bridge.

Khan, 28, was on licence and wearing an electronic monitoring tag when he launched the violent attack, which injured three others, after he was invited to the prisoner rehabilitation conference on Friday afternoon.

The attack has prompted the Ministry of Justice to review the licence conditions of every convicted terrorist released from prison, which the Prime Minister told the BBC was “probably about 74” people.

Boris Johnson has vowed to take steps to ensure people are not released early when they commit serious offences.

Mr Johnson has cancelled his General Election campaign plans for Monday morning and will attend the vigil.

Jack Merritt and Saskia Jones were both University of Cambridge graduates. Credit: Metropolitan Police/PA

But the family of Mr Merritt, from Cottenham, Cambridgeshire, asked for his death to not to be used to justify introducing “even more draconian sentences” on offenders in a heartfelt tribute released on Sunday.

They said: “He lit up our lives and the lives of his many friends and colleagues, and we will miss him terribly.

“Jack lived his principles; he believed in redemption and rehabilitation, not revenge, and he always took the side of the underdog.

“We know Jack would not want this terrible, isolated incident to be used as a pretext by the government for introducing even more draconian sentences on prisoners, or for detaining people in prison for longer than necessary.”

Khan was released from prison on licence in December 2018 Credit: BBC News/PA

Ms Jones, a volunteer with the scheme from Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, was described as having a “great passion” for providing support to victims of crime by her family.

In a statement, they said: “She was intent on living life to the full and had a wonderful thirst for knowledge, enabling her to be the best she could be.

“Saskia had a great passion for providing invaluable support to victims of criminal injustice, which led her to the point of recently applying for the police graduate recruitment programme, wishing to specialise in victim support.”

Khan, who was living in Stafford, was given permission to travel into the heart of London by police and the probation service.

Convicted of planning to bomb the London Stock Exchange in February 2012, he was released from prison on licence in December 2018, halfway through his 16-year prison sentence.

He launched the fatal attack at an event held by Learning Together, a programme associated with the university’s Institute of Criminology, at Fishmongers’ Hall near London Bridge.

Armed with two knives and wearing a fake suicide vest, he was tackled by members of the public, including ex-offenders from the conference, before he was shot dead by police.

One of the three people injured in the attack has been allowed to return home while the other two remain in a stable condition in hospital, Met Police said.

No-one else is being sought over the attack.