London mosque attacker jailed for 43 years

A man who drove a van into a crowd of Muslims near a London mosque last year, killing one man, was on Friday sentenced to life in prison with a minimum term of 43 years behind bars.

Darren Osborne, 48, was found guilty of murdering Makram Ali, 51, after deliberately ploughing into a crowd of people in Finsbury Park in June, the BBC reported. At least nine people were injured in the incident.

Justice Cheema-Grubb said Osborne, from Cardiff, had planned "a suicide mission" and expected to be shot dead.

Osborne attacked the crowd because they were wearing traditional Muslim dress, the prosecution said.

"This was a terrorist attack -- you intended to kill," the judge told him.

She said he was "rapidly radicalised over the Internet by those determined to spread hatred of Muslims".

Osborne, who had been found guilty of murder and attempted murder, said "God bless you all, thank you", as he was led away from court.

He used a rented van to target Muslims as they returned from prayers during the holy month of Ramadan, and the court heard he had wanted to kill as many as possible.

Osborne had appeared before the courts on 33 occasions for 102 offences.

The attacker, the trial heard, had became "obsessed" with Muslims in the weeks leading up to the attack, having watched the BBC drama "Three Girls" about the Rochdale grooming scandal.

It is the story of three victims of a child abuse ring. He quickly grew angry at what he deemed as "inaction" over the scandal, the court heard.

--IANS

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