Man accused of killing three people in Reading stabbing ‘known to M15’

A man accused of killing three people in a park in the southern English town of Reading briefly came to the attention of MI5 last year, security sources say.

Khairi Saadallah, a 25-year-old refugee who fled the civil war in Libya, was detained at the scene on Saturday night on suspicion of murder.

He was re-arrested on Sunday under the terrorism act.

Three other people were injured during the attack at 7pm on Saturday in Forbury Gardens, in Reading town centre.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said he was “appalled and sickened” by the attack and said “we will not hesitate to take action” if there are lessons to be learned from the circumstances.

Britain’s PA news agency understands Saadallah briefly came to the attention of the security services in 2019, but the information provided did not meet the threshold for investigation.

As counter-terror officers investigate, mental health was understood to be considered a major factor in the Reading attack.

Saadallah was jailed in October for a complex series of non-terror offences before his sentence was reduced to one of 17 months and 20 days’ imprisonment on appeal.

An appeal judge noted Saadallah’s various mental health issues in reducing his sentence in March.

Meanwhile, one of the victims was named as Wokingham teacher James Furlong.

Furlong’s school described him as a “kind and gentle man” who had a “real sense of duty and cared for each and every one of our students”.

Food delivery driver Amir Hadyoon said he saw the suspect, covered in blood, arrested a short distance from Forbury Gardens.

“To me it looked very weird because he didn’t say a word. He didn’t care, he was just staring... he was just completely silent,” Hadyoon told reporters.

Investigators have said they are not looking for anyone else in connection with the attack.

Johnson has held a meeting with security officials, police and senior ministers over the incident.

One of the patients admitted to hospital has been discharged, while another remains in a stable condition under observation, a hospital spokeswoman said.

Police Assistant Commissioner Neil Basu said the motivation for the killings was unclear.

“Although the motivation for this horrific act is far from certain, counter- terrorism policing have taken responsibility for leading the investigation,” he said in London.

He said counter-terror police would be working “around the clock”, and thanked 41 witnesses who had come forward to assist with their inquiries.

Witness Lawrence Wort, 20, said the lone attacker shouted some unintelligible words and went up to a group of about 10 with a knife.

“He stabbed three of them, severely in the neck, and under the arms, and then turned and started running towards me, and we turned and started running,” Wort said.

“When he realised that he couldn’t catch us, he tried to stab another group sat down, he got one person in the back of the neck and then when he realised everyone was starting to run, he ran out the park.”