On 14 August 2018, three people were injured when a silver Ford Fiesta hit them near the Palace of Westminster, London, England. The car then went on to crash into the separation barrier of the pavement situated between St Margaret Street / Abingdon Street and

Old Palace Yard Old Palace Yard is a paved open space in the City of Westminster in Central London, England. It lies between the Palace of Westminster to its north and east and Westminster Abbey to its west. It is known as the site of executions, including those ...

. The Metropolitan Police responded within seconds and arrested the driver, Salih Khater, without further incident. An ambulance immediately behind the Ford stopped and gave assistance to the injured. Khater was subsequently found guilty of two counts of attempted murder and sentenced to life in prison.

Events

The incident occurred at 07:37 BST on 14 August 2018. A silver Ford Fiesta was captured on CCTV negotiating

Parliament Square Parliament Square is a square at the northwest end of the Palace of Westminster in the City of Westminster in central London. Laid out in the 19th century, it features a large open green area in the centre with trees to its west, and it contai ...

, before making a sharp left turn and going the wrong way along the empty northbound lane of St. Margaret Street and then crossing a pedestrian island onto the southbound lane, hitting cyclists and pedestrians in the process. The car then progressed into Abingdon Street and branched left into an access road for

where it crashed into a closed barrier and came to a stop near the

House of Lords The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by appointment, heredity or official function. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminste ...

. The incident lasted 15 seconds. Three people sustained injuries, with one having serious, but not life-threatening injuries. The Metropolitan Police stated that the incident appeared to be a deliberate act. The Counterterrorism Chief of the Metropolitan Police reported that police did not believe the individual to be known to the Security Service (

MI5 The Security Service, also known as MI5 ( Military Intelligence, Section 5), is the United Kingdom's domestic counter-intelligence and security agency and is part of its intelligence machinery alongside the Secret Intelligence Service (MI6), G ...

) or to the counterterrorism policing unit. A witness told reporters that the car had accelerated after hitting the cyclists rather than slowing down. A UK Government official described a 47-second video of road users including a white van apparently tailing the suspect prior to the incident as "classic security behaviour". ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publish ...

'' reported friends of the arrested man saying that the crash may have been accidental.

Investigation

Salih Khater, a 29-year-old male British citizen from

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1. ...

who entered the UK in 2010 as a refugee from Sudan, was detained by police at the scene on suspicion of terror offences. He is known to police in his local area but not as a national security threat. The Assistant Commissioner leading the investigation said that Khater initially refused to cooperate with the police. The police searched three addresses in

the Midlands The Midlands (also referred to as Central England) are a part of England that broadly correspond to the Kingdom of Mercia of the Early Middle Ages, bordered by Wales, Northern England and Southern England. The Midlands were important in the In ...

on the evening of the incident, two in Birmingham and a residence in

Nottingham Nottingham ( , locally ) is a city and unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located north-west of London, south-east of Sheffield and north-east of Birmingham. Nottingham has links to the legend of Robi ...

. On 15 August 2018, police announced that Khater was being held on suspicion of attempted murder as well as an 'act of terrorism'. On 18 August, Khater was charged with one count of attempted murder of members of the public and one count of attempted murder of police officers. On 20 August, at

Westminster Magistrates' Court Westminster Magistrates' Court is a magistrates' court at 181 Marylebone Road, London. The Chief Magistrate of England and Wales, who is the Senior District Judge of England and Wales, sits at the court, and all extradition and terrorism-rela ...

, he was remanded in custody to appear at the Old Bailey on 31 August. Khater was due to stand trial on 4 February 2019, but in January 2019,

Mr Justice Sweeney Sir Nigel Hamilton Sweeney KC (born 18 March 1954), styled The Hon. Mr Justice Sweeney, is a High Court judge. Biography Sweeney studied law at the University of Nottingham under Sir John Cyril Smith. He was called to the bar in 1976 at the ...

pushed the date back to 24 June 2019. The defendant entered not guilty pleas to all charges, but did not provide any further comments. He was remanded in custody. On 17 July 2019, Khater was found guilty at the Old Bailey of two counts of attempted murder. He was remanded in custody to be sentenced on 7 October. On 14 October 2019, Khater was sentenced to life imprisonment, with a minimum term of 15 years. Sentencing, Mrs Justice McGowan said Khater had acted with "terrorist motives".

Reactions

Prime Minister

Theresa May Theresa Mary May, Lady May (; née Brasier; born 1 October 1956) is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from 2016 to 2019. She previously served in David Cameron's cabi ...

tweeted Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...

, "My thoughts are with those injured in the incident in Westminster and my thanks to the emergency services for their immediate and courageous response."

London Mayor The mayor of London is the chief executive of the Greater London Authority. The role was created in 2000 after the Greater London devolution referendum in 1998, and was the first directly elected mayor in the United Kingdom. The current m ...

Sadiq Khan Sadiq Aman Khan (; born 8 October 1970) is a British politician serving as Mayor of London since 2016. He was previously Member of Parliament (MP) for Tooting from 2005 until 2016. A member of the Labour Party, Khan is on the party's sof ...

expressed similar sentiments, adding that "all Londoners, like me, utterly condemn all acts of terrorism on our city. The response of Londoners today shows that we will never be cowed, intimidated or divided by any terrorist attack." Labour Party leader

Jeremy Corbyn Jeremy Bernard Corbyn (; born 26 May 1949) is a British politician who served as Leader of the Opposition and Leader of the Labour Party from 2015 to 2020. On the political left of the Labour Party, Corbyn describes himself as a socialist ...

tweeted, "My thoughts are with those hurt and injured outside Parliament this morning in what is being treated as a terrorist incident. Our thanks go to our emergency services who responded immediately. Their bravery keeps us safe day in, day out." Sadiq Khan and Metropolitan Police Commissioner

Cressida Dick Dame Cressida Rose Dick (born 16 October 1960) is a British retired senior police officer who served as Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis from 2017 to 2022. She is both the first female and first openly homosexual officer to lead the M ...

said that Parliament Square could be

pedestrianised Pedestrian zones (also known as auto-free zones and car-free zones, as pedestrian precincts in British English, and as pedestrian malls in the United States and Australia) are areas of a city or town reserved for pedestrian-only use and in whi ...

, stating that vehicle attacks had become the terrorist's "weapon of choice" in Europe and the western world. United States President

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of P ...

tweeted that "these animals are crazy and must be dealt with through toughness and strength".

References

External links

Articles on the BBC News site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Westminster car attack, 2018 Attacks in the United Kingdom in 2018 2018 in London 2018 road incidents 2010s crimes in London 2018 car attack 2010s road incidents in the United Kingdom 2010s trials August 2018 crimes in Europe August 2018 events in the United Kingdom 2018 car attack Road incidents in London Trials in London Violence in London

Events

Investigation

Reactions

See also

References

External links