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Split-second kill shot: Undercover cops tell of snap decision to open fire on Streatham terrorist Sudesh Amman as he ran at them with blade after stabbing two people on high street

Streatham terrorist Sudesh Amman

Streatham terrorist Sudesh Amman

Undercover police today told of their snap decision to open fire on Streatham terrorist Sudesh Amman, as jurors were shown CCTV depicting the moment he suddenly charged at police before being shot and writhing wildly on the ground where he later died.   

The 20-year-old went on a 62-second stabbing rampage after stealing an 8in carving knife from a shop on Streatham High Road in South London and stabbing two members of the public at random, both of whom survived.  

His wanton violence was only brought to a halt when armed undercover police who had been tailing him opened fire, shooting at him six times, hitting him twice at close range.

Jonathan Hough QC, for the coroner, took the jury through CCTV that showed Amman leaving his probation hostel at 1.22pm on February 2, smiling and talking to a member of staff before walking across the back yard. 

Members of the public could be seen scrambling for safety in shops as Amman sprinted down the street before turning 180 degrees to face the officers with his knife raised at them. He closed the short distance between them - reckoned to be around 3ft - 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 today 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. 

Handout CCTV image dated 02/02/20 issued by the Metropolitan Police of Sudesh Amman pictured on Streatham High Road

Handout CCTV image dated 02/02/20 issued by the Metropolitan Police of Sudesh Amman pictured on Streatham High Road

Undated Metropolitan Police handout CCTV image of Sudesh Amman in Lidl, Streatham, on January 29 2020

Undated Metropolitan Police handout CCTV image of Sudesh Amman in Lidl, Streatham, on January 29 2020

Timeline: Streatham 2020 terror attack 

January 23, 2020

Sudesh Amman, a 20-year-old from Harrow in north-west London, is automatically released from prison having been handed a 40-month sentence for 13 counts of obtaining and distributing material used for terrorist purposes. He is released to a probation hostel in Streatham, south London.

January 24

Amman, who is originally from Coventry, is under day-time surveillance by plain clothes officers.

January 29

A decision is made to allow those surveillance officers to carry firearms.

January 30

Amman's covert surveillance is relaxed slightly, meaning there would be no coverage between 6am and 10am due to intelligence about Amman's lack of movement at this time of the day.

January 31

Amman is seen looking at knives in a shop and buying items that could be used to create a hoax suicide belt. These items include a roll of tape, aluminium foil and four bottles of Irn Bru soft drink. It is then decided to put Amman under 24-hour surveillance.

February 1

Amman is placed on 'round-the-clock' - i.e. 24-hour - surveillance. This includes armed covert police, as well as uniformed officers nearby.

February 2

1.22pm - Amman leaves his approved premises, the probation hostel, at Leigham Court Road.

1.50pm - Amman is seen on Streatham High Road. He is said to be walking 'very slowly'.

1.57pm - The 20-year-old enters a shop called Low Price Store. He is inside for barely a minute, and emerges with a knife which he has stolen. He is pursued by undercover police. Amman stabs two people - a man and a woman - before being shot at by an armed officer.

1.58pm - Amman, reaching the Boots shop, turns to face the police. Police shoot at him five times, with two shots hitting him. A total of 62 seconds after running from the shop, Amman falls to the ground.

2.40pm - A police explosives expert arrives on the scene to check the device around Amman's waist, which was identified as a hoax.

3.24pm - Sudesh Amman is pronounced dead by a paramedic.

The inquest previously heard how Amman was deemed to be 'one of the most dangerous individuals' that police and MI5 teams had investigated. 

He had been released from Belmarsh jail 10 days before the attack after serving half of a 40 month sentence for obtaining and distributing material for terrorist purposes.

There was also intelligence that he maintained an extremist mindset, wanted to carry out a knife attack in the future, openly shared a desire to kill the Queen, and pledged allegiance to the leader of so-called Islamic State, jurors were previously told. 

Amman, raised in Coventry and Birmingham before moving to Harrow, 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.

Wearing a camouflage jacket with a red hood, a beanie hat, and a black tunic over grey jogging bottoms, he arrived on Streatham High Road at 1.47pm, followed by a nine-member surveillance team.

Footage from inside a Holland and Barrett store at 1.58pm, showed two undercover officers, with their arms up, holding Glock handguns in the firing position as the pursued Amman.

Worried pedestrians ran into a Boots store and seconds later Amman ran across from right to left, then stopped, turned around and ran at full speed towards BX87 and BX75 before falling to the ground.

'Sudesh Aman moved towards them with the knife held out in his right hand, closing an already short distance between them,' Mr Hough said.

The senior officer in the team, BX113, pulled out of a side street in a grey Audi SUV with his lights flashing and siren on as BX87 moved forward to kick the knife out of the way.

'As he lies on the floor, he is initially waving his arms and his legs, apparently wildly, and then in smaller movements before he lies motionless,' between 10 and 15 seconds later, Mr Hough said.

Footage from a camera outside Boots showed Amman running and then turning and moving towards the officers.

'You see clearly the position of the knife with blade up,' Mr Hough said. 'He falls to the ground when he is struck by bullets.'

BX87 could be seen backing away and pulling a police cap from his backpack. A passenger on the 201 bus filmed as the male victim was treated, lying on the ground outside Cash Converters.

Another officer arrived in a black BMW and grabbed a medical bag from the boot to treat the victim shortly before a marked armed response vehicle arrived with unformed firearms officers.

The three response officers, armed with Heckler and Koch carbines, approached with BX75 to check Amman and one of them said: 'He's got a vest' and then 'Everyone move.' 

The ARV pulled back and parked next to white van that had been parked across the road by one of the surveillance officers. 

CCTV showed BX86 and BX89 warning off members of the public and BX89 behind the black BMW covering Amman with his firearm.

At 2.46pm an explosives officer arrived, put on rubber gloves, but no helmet and checked Amman, before cutting empty bottles covered in foil from a belt where he had attached them with brown parcel tape.

The officer disappeared and then moved back in and patted down Amman's clothing before walking away at 3.15pm, leaving Amman's body in a pool of blood on the pavement.

Armed police shot dead Amman after he grabbed a knife from a shop and stabbed a man and a woman in Streatham

Armed police shot dead Amman after he grabbed a knife from a shop and stabbed a man and a woman in Streatham

Amman lies dead on the pavement on Streatham High Road after being shot dead

Amman lies dead on the pavement on Streatham High Road after being shot dead

Undated Metropolitan Police handout CCTV image of Sudesh Amman at his approved premises on January 31, 2020

Undated Metropolitan Police handout CCTV image of Sudesh Amman at his approved premises on January 31, 2020

Four minutes later, two armed officers with helmets and a shield approached with two London Ambulance paramedics, who turned Amman over and pronounced life extinct at 3.24pm

Neil Sheldon QC, for the Metropolitan Police said that when Amman turned on the officers he was around 8ft to 10ft away and within half a second had closed to 3ft.

'Does it follow that if the officer had hesitated for even a fraction of a second, Amman would have been on to him?' Mr Sheldon asked.

'Correct,' DC Lorraine Simpson, who compiled the CCTV said. 

Footage from a Polish grocery store and a Subway sandwich shop on Streatham High Road where he looked around him before walking past Maeme's grilled chicken takeaway. 

At 1.50pm, he paused on both sides of a pedestrian crossing, looking around him, and then walked south on Streatham High Road before doubling back.

He walked past the Low Price Store, the White Lion Pub and a Cash Converter's shop before he got to a Lidl where he turned 180 degrees and walked very slowly back the way he had come. At 1.56pm, as a 255 bus to Balham passed, he looked around him and then went into the Low Price Store.

An undercover officer codenamed BX87 moved towards the shop as a woman with a pram walked passed, intending to go into the shop to find out what Amman was doing.

The undercover officer was just yards away when Amman burst out of the store at 1.57pm, with the knife, chased by members of the store staff.

Out of sight of the camera, he stabbed a woman in a red jacket who had been wheeling a bike passed the hardware store, and then a man.

BX87, who had a small rucksack over his shoulder, pursued Amman, breaking into a run and another officer, BX89, ran out of Maeme's chicken shop.

They were joined by BX69, running north and BX114 on blue motorbike, who emerged out of Shrubbery Road just beyond Maeme's and pulled up outside, taking his helmet off.

BX75, who was walking north, broke into a run by the White Lion pub as a man in a dark coat holding his side, the second person stabbed, walked passed Cash Converters.

BX76, the next officer in pursuit, carrying a Waitrose plastic bag, stopped to help the man who had been stabbed and a blue car also stopped nearby to help.

The inquest continues.  

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