London stabbing: Knife attacker identified as former terror convict

LONDON (REUTERS, BLOOMBERG) - A man who was shot dead by police after stabbing two people on a busy street in south London on Sunday (Feb 2) was identified as Sudesh Amman, a former convict who was recently released from prison.

Amman, 20, who was jailed in 2018 for "Islamist-related terrorism offences", was being tracked by police on foot at the time of attack, which sent people running into nearby shops and emergency services racing to the scene.

"The incident was quickly declared as a terrorist incident and we believe it to be Islamist-related," said Ms Lucy D'Orsi, deputy assistant commissioner in the Metropolitan Police.

She said Amman was shot dead by armed officers, who were part of a proactive counter-terrorism surveillance operation.

Police said it was an isolated incident and the situation had been contained.

Ms D'Orsi said Amman, who had been convicted of possession of terrorist material and dissemination of terrorist publications, had recently been released from prison.

Sky News reported that he had been freed in January.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson vowed tougher punishments for convicted terrorists after the stabbing attack, which unfolded just two months after two stabbing deaths near the city's financial district.

"Tomorrow, we will announce further plans for fundamental changes to the system for dealing with those convicted of terrorism offences," Mr Johnson said in a statement on Sunday.

He said his new government had already proposed tougher sentences and to end early release for terror suspects.

He said those measures would "strengthen every element of our response to terrorism - including longer prison sentences and more money for the police."

He did not hint at how much further he might go after Sunday's attack.

Mr Johnson has often called for tougher treatment of terror suspects and promised a plan during the election campaign to make sure "terrorists serve every day of their sentence, no exceptions."

The last such incident in London was in November, when police shot dead a man wearing a fake suicide vest who stabbed two people to death and wounded three more before being wrestled to the ground by bystanders.

That attack, at London Bridge, was carried out by a man with Islamist militant sympathies. He had been jailed for terrorism and released early.

London's mayor Sadiq Khan said in a statement after Sunday's incident: "Terrorists seek to divide us and to destroy our way of life - here in London we will never let them succeed."