Sudesh Amman, the man shot dead by police after stabbing two people in Streatham on Sunday, had been released from prison just days earlier. He was under active police surveillance at the time of the attack, having served half of a three-year and four-month sentence for possessing and distributing extremist material.
Amman, 20, was jailed in December 2018 and was deemed sufficiently high risk to warrant special monitoring after his release. Mobile phone footage showed plainclothes officers arriving at high speed, firing several shots and killing him outside a Boots chemist. The attack is the second terror incident in London in three months, following Usman Khan's stabbings near London Bridge in November.
Authorities confirmed that Amman had expressed a "fascination with dying in the name of terrorism" and had pledged allegiance to Islamic State. He had scrawled "life goals" in a notebook, listing martyrdom above family activities. During his imprisonment, he urged his girlfriend to use knives or other weapons if bombs were not possible.
Witnesses reported that Amman wore a fake suicide vest containing canister-like objects, which police quickly established was a hoax. The attack has sparked renewed debate about sentencing for terrorists, with Prime Minister Boris Johnson announcing plans for fundamental changes to the system for dealing with terrorism offences.
A Whitehall source stated that there were no legal powers to keep Amman behind bars, which is why he was under surveillance and strict licence conditions. Investigators are now focusing on his associations and whether he acted alone or was directed by others.
