Darren Osborne is alleged to have deliberately mowed down people outside two mosques in Finsbury Park shortly after midnight on June 19 last year, leaving one dead and several injured.
Witnesses saw the white vehicle accelerating as it approached the group, leaving them “splattered all over the place” and killing Makram Ali, the jury at Woolwich Crown Court has previously been told.
But taking to the witness box on Tuesday afternoon, Osborne denied he was the driver of the van involved, saying it was a man named ‘Dave’.
Defence barrister Lisa Wilding QC asked Osborne: “Were you the driver of the van?”
Osborne replied: “No.”
Ms Wilding said: “Did you know who was the driver of the van?”
The defendant said: “A guy called Dave.”
Ms Wilding said: “Do you know Dave’s other name?”
Osborne said: “No I do not.”
The defendant said he knew Dave and had met him in a pub in Treforest, called the Pick and Shovel, in early April or March last year. Osborne told the court that he had also met a man called Terry Jones, and that the three of them would discuss their social and political views.
Osborne said the intention when hiring the van was to go to the Al Quds march in London, due to end in Grosvenor Square, where Labour Leader Jeremy Corbyn was expected to be in attendance.
He said he had made contact with Dave and Terry using an old Nokia phone, which he did not believe police had recovered.
Ms Wilding said: “Where did you first see Terry and Dave that day?”
He replied: “At Grosvenor Square.”
He added that “road blocks” had stopped them from going near the march, adding that it had “thwarted their plans”.
Referring to the Al Quds march, Mr Rees said: “Were you hoping that you would have an opportunity to attack Jeremy Corbyn and kill him?”
Osborne replied: “Oh yeah.”
After a pause, he added: “It would be one less terrorist off our streets.”
He added it would have been “even better” if London Mayor Sadiq Khan had been at the march.
Osborne told the court: “It would have been like winning the lottery.”
Ms Wilding said: “How was it that you ended up in the Finsbury Park area?”
Osborne said: “It was Jeremy Corbyn‘s constituency. That’s what gave us the idea.”
He added that they were looking for the mosque.
Ms Wilding said: “Did you know whether Dave or Terry were also going to be in the Finsbury Park area.”
He replied: “Yes they were going to meet me there.”
He said the trio had originally planned to go to Rochdale, Greater Manchester, adding: “That was our intended target.” Asked if this plan had been put into effect, he said: “Unfortunately not.”
Asked if he had had contact with Terry and Dave after the attack in Finsbury, Osborne told the court: “We had… we were planning to form a group, like the Welsh far-right group. We were going to call ourselves the ‘Taffia’.”
Earlier Jonathan Rees QC, concluding the prosecution case, said the final evidence would deal with the issue of who was driving at the time of the attack and whether the alleged perpetrator acted with others.
Detective Constable Paul Dring, of the Metropolitan Police, said he was told by Osborne during an urgent safety interview conducted at University College Hospital that no-one else was involved, the court heard.
According to a statement read by Mr Rees, he asked: “In terms of what happened today, is there anyone else involved?
“To which Mr Osborne replied ‘No’.”
The court heard that at the end of the interview, Mr Dring asked: “Finally from me, is there anything at all that you know about that could harm anyone?”
“Mr Osborne says ‘No’.”
After a pause Osborne added “I’m flying solo”, Mr Rees told the jury.
The court was also shown footage from the body camera of Pc David Jones, who is said to have handcuffed Mr Osborne while he was on the ground after the incident.
A man the prosecution say is Osborne can be heard saying in the back of the police vehicle “I lost control of the van” and “lost control, man”.
Mr Jones said: “Were you driving, yeah?”
The man is heard to reply: “Yeah.”
Asked if he had been drinking, the man said he had consumed a “couple of pints”.
Osborne denies the murder of Mr Ali, 51, and attempted murder of “persons at the junction of Seven Sisters Road and Whadcoat Street, London”.
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HeadlineAccused denies driving Finsbury Park attack van, says ‘intention was to kill Corbyn’
Short Headline'Intention was to kill Corbyn'
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Darren Osborne is alleged to have deliberately mowed down people outside two mosques in Finsbury Park shortly after midnight on June 19 last year, leaving one dead and several injured.
Witnesses saw the white vehicle accelerating as it approached the group, leaving them “splattered all over the place” and killing Makram Ali, the jury at Woolwich Crown Court has previously been told.
But taking to the witness box on Tuesday afternoon, Osborne denied he was the driver of the van involved, saying it was a man named ‘Dave’.
Defence barrister Lisa Wilding QC asked Osborne: “Were you the driver of the van?”
Osborne replied: “No.”
Ms Wilding said: “Did you know who was the driver of the van?”
The defendant said: “A guy called Dave.”
Ms Wilding said: “Do you know Dave’s other name?”
Osborne said: “No I do not.”
The defendant said he knew Dave and had met him in a pub in Treforest, called the Pick and Shovel, in early April or March last year. Osborne told the court that he had also met a man called Terry Jones, and that the three of them would discuss their social and political views.
Osborne said the intention when hiring the van was to go to the Al Quds march in London, due to end in Grosvenor Square, where Labour Leader Jeremy Corbyn was expected to be in attendance.
He said he had made contact with Dave and Terry using an old Nokia phone, which he did not believe police had recovered.
Ms Wilding said: “Where did you first see Terry and Dave that day?”
He replied: “At Grosvenor Square.”
He added that “road blocks” had stopped them from going near the march, adding that it had “thwarted their plans”.
Referring to the Al Quds march, Mr Rees said: “Were you hoping that you would have an opportunity to attack Jeremy Corbyn and kill him?”
Osborne replied: “Oh yeah.”
After a pause, he added: “It would be one less terrorist off our streets.”
He added it would have been “even better” if London Mayor Sadiq Khan had been at the march.
Osborne told the court: “It would have been like winning the lottery.”
Ms Wilding said: “How was it that you ended up in the Finsbury Park area?”
Osborne said: “It was Jeremy Corbyn‘s constituency. That’s what gave us the idea.”
He added that they were looking for the mosque.
Ms Wilding said: “Did you know whether Dave or Terry were also going to be in the Finsbury Park area.”
He replied: “Yes they were going to meet me there.”
He said the trio had originally planned to go to Rochdale, Greater Manchester, adding: “That was our intended target.” Asked if this plan had been put into effect, he said: “Unfortunately not.”
Asked if he had had contact with Terry and Dave after the attack in Finsbury, Osborne told the court: “We had… we were planning to form a group, like the Welsh far-right group. We were going to call ourselves the ‘Taffia’.”
Earlier Jonathan Rees QC, concluding the prosecution case, said the final evidence would deal with the issue of who was driving at the time of the attack and whether the alleged perpetrator acted with others.
Detective Constable Paul Dring, of the Metropolitan Police, said he was told by Osborne during an urgent safety interview conducted at University College Hospital that no-one else was involved, the court heard.
According to a statement read by Mr Rees, he asked: “In terms of what happened today, is there anyone else involved?
“To which Mr Osborne replied ‘No’.”
The court heard that at the end of the interview, Mr Dring asked: “Finally from me, is there anything at all that you know about that could harm anyone?”
“Mr Osborne says ‘No’.”
After a pause Osborne added “I’m flying solo”, Mr Rees told the jury.
The court was also shown footage from the body camera of Pc David Jones, who is said to have handcuffed Mr Osborne while he was on the ground after the incident.
A man the prosecution say is Osborne can be heard saying in the back of the police vehicle “I lost control of the van” and “lost control, man”.
Mr Jones said: “Were you driving, yeah?”
The man is heard to reply: “Yeah.”
Asked if he had been drinking, the man said he had consumed a “couple of pints”.
Osborne denies the murder of Mr Ali, 51, and attempted murder of “persons at the junction of Seven Sisters Road and Whadcoat Street, London”.
