London Bridge inquest: Lawyer says pavements left 'wide open' without barriers

The aftermath of the June 2017 attack
Jeremy Selwyn
Megan White11 January 2019

A lawyer has criticised the lack of barriers on London Bridge before the terror attack, and said pavements were “wide open” despite a similar atrocity three months earlier.

Eight people were killed when three men ploughed into pedestrians in a white van on the bridge, before stabbing revellers in nearby Borough market on June 3, 2017.

Gareth Patterson QC, who is representing six of the victims’ families, set out his key concerns ahead of a full inquest at the Old Bailey starting on May 7.

The victims were Christine Archibald, 30, Xavier Thomas, 45, Alexandre Pigeard, 26, as well as Sara Zelenak, 21, Kirsty Boden, 28, Sebastien Belanger, 36, James McMullan, 32, and Ignacio Echeverria, 39.

Anti-terror police at the scene of the attack at London Bridge
Jeremy Selwyn

The attackers, Khuram Butt, 27, Rachid Redouane, 30, and Youssef Zaghba, 22, were shot dead by police at the scene.

Mr Patterson criticised the lack of barriers on the bridge at the time of the attack, coming so soon after the Westminster attack in March.

He said: "The pavements of London Bridge were wide open, despite what happened at Westminster."

In the autumn, the Westminster inquest was told that no consideration was given at the time to putting up barriers in between the two attacks.

But Mr Patterson said within a day of the London Bridge atrocity, work began to put up barriers.

Emergency services attend to a person injured in the terror attack on London Bridge on June 3, 2017.
Getty Images

He also said there was an "apparent failure to have any sort of regulation or security checks by rental businesses where they are renting out powerful vehicles which can be used as lethal weapons.

"We have had them used in terrorist attack after terrorist attack."

The lawyer pointed out that vehicles were also used to cause carnage in Nice and Berlin.

Borough Market & London Bridge terror attack tributes - In pictures

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The barrister said Butt was under investigation by security services yet was still able to plan and carry out the attack with his accomplices.

He said it was a "very troubling and a significant issue" which he plans to pursue at the inquest.

During the hearing, Jonathan Hough QC, counsel to the coroner, said counter-terrorism police had taken 2,701 statements and seized "vast" amounts of CCTV footage of the attacks and the terrorists' movements.

Other evidence included body-worn video from police officers and videos from members of the public caught up in the carnage.

Mr Hough said extensive work had been done by forensic experts on the attackers' vehicle, the knives used and petrol bombs found in the aftermath.

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