CCTV footage of Streatham terrorist’s final moments shown at inquest
ITV News Correspondent Juliet Bremner reports on the final moments of Sudesh Amman’s life
The dramatic final seconds of Sudesh Amman’s life have been shown at his inquest, including the moment he suddenly charged at police before being shot and laying on the ground where he died.
The 20-year-old went on a 62-second stabbing rampage after stealing a knife from a shop on Streatham High Road in south London and stabbing two members of the public at random. They both survived.
His violence was only brought to a halt when armed undercover police tailing him opened fire, shooting at him six times, hitting him twice at close range.
Members of the public could be seen scrambling for safety in shops as Amman sprinted along the busy street, before swiftly turning 180 degrees to face the officers with his knife raised at them.
He closed the short distance between them – thought to be around one metre – within half a second, just as he was shot.
Footage then showed Amman spending around 10 seconds lying on his back and flailing his arms and legs wildly before he stopped moving. He was declared dead 90 minutes later.
One witness who filmed the incident from a 201 bus travelling south, muttered: “This ain’t real, this ain’t real,” as Amman was shot in front of him.
A police officer scrambled to the scene could be heard shouting: “He’s got a vest – move away.”
Council-operated CCTV directly above Boots, where Amman was fatally shot, showed the moment a bomb disposal expert arrived on scene around 40 minutes later, patting down Amman’s body and carefully removing his hoax suicide belt.
Amman had only been released from Belmarsh prison 10 days earlier after serving part of his 40-month sentence for terror offences, despite pleas from police and MI5 to detain him for longer over concerns he remained a danger to the public.
Jurors at Amman’s inquest at the Royal Courts of Justice on Tuesday saw video compiled from CCTV cameras and public transport, police body-worn footage, and evidence from members of the public showing the terrorist’s journey from his probation hostel in Streatham to the spot where he would be shot dead 30 minutes later.
Amman, raised in Coventry and Birmingham before moving to Harrow in north-west London, and who was of Sri Lankan descent, spent his short time after being released from custody living in a bail hostel in Streatham, during which time undercover police teams monitoring him remarked on his “concerning” behaviour.
He was seen buying four small bottles of Irn Bru, some parcel tape and kitchen foil from a nearby Poundland on January 31, prompting police to call an emergency meeting at which it was decided to ramp up security rather than arrest him amid concerns he might use the materials to fashion a suicide belt.
Amman struck two days later and was found wearing a “crude” explosive device replica, made out of the items he bought at Poundland.
The inquest continues.