Finsbury Park victim 'had heart of gold and loved helping others'

Makram Ali was killed in the attack outside the Muslim Welfare House Mosque in Finsbury Park last year
Metropolitan Police
Isobel Frodsham18 June 2018

The father-of-six who died in the Finsbury Park terror attack will be remembered as a generous man who cared deeply about others, survivors said today.

Makram Ali, 51, was killed on June 19 last year when Darren Osborne ploughed his rented van into a group of worshippers as they left the Muslim Welfare House Mosque.

Mr Ali’s friend Abdul Matin Chowdhury, who was one of 12 injured, said Mr Ali had a “heart of gold”. He told the Standard: “Makram Ali will be remembered for his generosity, kind-heartedness, love and concern for fellow human beings. When I’d go to pray and Makram had got there before me, he’d have a chair ready for me. We’d often walk home together. He was just a remarkable man who had a heart of gold and loved helping others.”

Mr Chowdhury's nephew, Sultan Ahmed, 35, said it had taken his uncle a long time to overcome his fears and return to the mosque after the attack. “He knows that he is lucky to be alive, as is his son Tahsin, who is 14 and has been scarred by what he experienced.

Emergency services staff treat victims after a vehicle hit pedestrians in Finsbury Park last year
Thomas van Hulle

“But he has been determined not to let the terrorist defeat him. This ­Ramadan he has gone back to pray at the mosque, along with hundreds of other worshippers praying for peace around the world.”

Father-of-four Yassin Hersi, 46, who suffered a broken ankle during the attack, gave first aid to Mr Ali before paramedics arrived.

The night was a “painful tragedy” for everyone, Mr Hersi said. “It’s scarring. Every time you remember, you get stressed and anxious. It’s not something we can say we’ve forgotten about, as it’s part of our lives now, but I hope we can recover.”

Rabbi Herschel Gluck OBE said Mr Ali was “a decent human being who loved God, his family, his community and London, and had brought up his children who reflect those ideals”.

Osborne, from Cardiff, was jailed for life in February and will spend at least 43 years behind bars.

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