UK Edition
Family of Reading terror victim calls for 'meaningful change' as killer had avoided deportation
The killer had been denied asylum by the Home Office in 2012, but was not deported because of a 'legal barrier'
The family of one of three men murdered in the Reading terror attack have called for "meaningful change" so that no one else will suffer as they did following the failure to deport his killer.
Joseph Ritchie-Bennett’s family have spoken out after it emerged that 26-year-old Khairi Saadallah – who was last week sentenced to life in prison for the attack – was a failed asylum seeker who was keen to befriend the extremist preacher Omar Brooks in prison.
Saadallah stabbed 39-year-old Mr Ritchie-Bennett to death along with his friends James Furlong, 36, and David Wails, 49, during a knife rampage in Reading’s Forbury Gardens in June last year.
Speaking on the eve of what would have been Mr Ritchie-Bennett’s birthday on Friday, his brother Robert Ritchie said: “We are hopeful for meaningful change and meaningful changes to be implemented so that no other families, no other family or families, no other people, person or persons, ever have to experience what the Ritchie, the Bennett, the Furlong and the Wails families have experienced."
Following the sentencing of Saadallah at the Old Bailey, Mr Furlong’s family demanded that Home Secretary Priti Patel explain why he was still in the country at the time of the attack.
The Ritchie-Bennett family said on Thursday they fully backed their call. Robert Ritchie, a captain of 24 years experience with the Philadelphia Police, added: “We join them in their concerns. We have the exact same concerns and questions, and we look forward to such a time where the Ritchie, the Bennett, the Furlong and the Wails families' concerns are heard at a formal inquest."
Asked if he had a message for the Home Secretary, Mr Ritchie said: "We are thankful to her for the lovely letter that she wrote to our family. We look forward to working alongside her during the formal inquest.”
Saadallah, who was a member of the banned Islamic Ansar al-Sharia terrorist group in Libya, first sought asylum in the UK in 2012, but was turned down by the Home Office.
He appealed against the decision, but was again turned down.
However, he was not deported and in 2013 he absconded and was only tracked down months later.
At this point he agreed to leave voluntarily but later changed his mind and despite amassing seven convictions for 19 offences remained in the UK.
Just days before the attack, and as he was about to be released from prison, Saadallah was informed that the Home Office had concluded his deportation was in the public interest.
Despite this, officials accepted this could not happen immediately because of a “legal barrier,” thought to be the unstable political situation in Libya. The UK has not been able to return anyone to Libya since 2014.
It later emerged that while he was serving a prison sentence in 2013 he fell under the influence of Brooks.
Mr Ritchie said his brother, who "was brilliant and handsome, and accepting of everyone”, had been planning to climb Mount Kilimanjaro for his 40th birthday on Friday.
"This terrorist just decided he had the right to cut short all of Joe's hopes and dreams, all of James's hopes and dreams, all of David's hopes and dreams, and the hopes and dreams that the Ritchie family, the Bennett family, the Furlong family and the Wails family had for Joe, James and David," he said.
Mr Ritchie, 44, said his brother had been "training really hard" for the climb up Kilimanjaro, and was happy to wait for the pandemic to pass so that he could embark on his adventures, adding: "What he said was 'Oh it's okay, this Covid-19 pandemic is not going to last forever. The restrictions, you know, this too shall pass, basically. I've got my whole life ahead of me'."
Speaking after Saadallah was handed a whole life order, James' father Gary Furlong said "there are now serious questions that need answering" by Ms Patel, including how Saadallah was allowed into the country and why he was able to stay.
Mr Furlong said: "The Secretary of State needs to tell us why this guy wasn't put into some sort of detention centre before they could deport him. He wasn't safe to be released back on the streets."
On the day of the sentencing, Ms Patel said: "While nothing can undo the pain and suffering of the victims' families, I hope that this sentence brings some degree of comfort to them and everyone who was affected by the appalling attack at Forbury Gardens."