WORLD

Anger as London Bridge Terrorist received over £350,000 in Legal Aid

6 January, 2020
David Clews

Usman Khan was given more than £350,000 in legal aid, with £12,000 to appeal his previous terrorism sentence.

Khan was found guilty of preparing terrorist acts and was given an indefinite sentence.

Because of his tax-payer funded appeal, he was free from prison on license when he went on a knife rampage killing two and injuring several more in central London in November.

London Bridge knifeman Usman Khan was handed more than £350,000 in legal aid, with £12,000 to appeal his previous terrorism sentence

Khan was charged with conspiracy to cause explosions and other terrorism offences in late December 2010 including blowing up the London Stock Exchange but the case was never pursued.

In 2012, he pleaded guilty to preparing terrorist acts – for plotting to build a madrasah in Kashmir for men who wished to fight – and was sentenced to indeterminate detention with a minimum of eight years.

He was handed £124,136 for a solicitor and £217,324 for a barrister, a total of £341,460 for representation at court according to The Sun on Sunday.

In 2013 Lord Justice Leveson wrote that the original decision had ‘wrongly characterised’ Khan and fellow group members Mohammad Shahjahan and Nazam Hussein as more dangerous than the other six.

Because of this tax-payer funded appeal, he was free from prison on license when he went on a knife rampage killing two and injuring several more in central London in November.

‘Although we recognise that training terrorists in the use of firearms could only lead to potential loss of life… the fulfilment of that goal was further removed and there were other obstacles,’ Leveson wrote.

Khan won the appeal, and his indefinite term was changed to a fixed 16 year sentence, along with five-year extended licence periods.

That meant Khan left prison in December 2018, apparently feigning rehabilitation, but committed the London Bridge atrocity only 12 months later killing two. Many on social media have expressed their outrage with Alan in Kent saying “makes my blood boil that these scum get fortunes but you know who is worse the lawyers that take the money!”

UNN had previously reported on how the law firm Doughty Street Chambers had boasted of helping to facilitate the release of Khan:

As more details emerge of the calamitous way in which Usman Khan was set free and allowed to kill we can reveal that the law firm had on their website the fact he was released to promote the work of Joel Bennathan QC. Please see below e-mail sent to Mr Bennathan:

Dear Mr Bennathan,

We note that you were the solicitor who defended Usman Khan who murdered 2 people yesterday in London. On your profile on your website as part of your profile to highlight your talents as a lawyer it highlights this:
joel 1.JPG
In light of yesterday’s atrocity we wondered if you had anything to say about using the successful appeal of Usman Khan to promote both yourself and your firm?
We note your Twitter account has now been set to private.
Kind Regards,
David Clews
As of yet we have received no response, likewise we reached out to the firm on Twitter with no response.
They also crow on their website about defending Extinction Rebellion Protestors as well as having Amal Clooney as one of their senior Human Rights Lawyers. UNN will be discussing this in full on tonight’s show.

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