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Manchester Evening News
Manchester Evening News
National
Richard Brown & Benjamin Blosse

London Bridge terror attack victim named as Jack Merritt

The first victim of the London Bridge terror attack has been named.

Jack Merritt, a worker at the University of Cambridge, was one of two people to die on Friday afternoon.

His death has been confirmed on Twitter by his father, David, CambridgeshireLive reports.

Jack served as course co-ordinator for Learning Together, the initiative run by the University's Institute of Criminology aimed at improving prisoner rehabilitation.

It had been holding a course at Fishmongers' Hall, in the City of London, when Usman Khan stabbed five people.

Jack and a woman, who has yet to be named, died.

Three people were injured in the violence and are being treated in hospital.

Khan was shot dead by police on London Bridge after heroic members of the public ran across to detain him. He was wearing a fake explosive device at the time.

Man grabs knife from Usman Khan - before police fire shots

Metropolitan Police Assistant Commissioner Neil Basu said Khan had been living in the Staffordshire area and that police were "not actively seeking anyone else" over the attack.

Forensics are today searching a house in Stafford in relation to the investigation.

CambridgeshireLive reports David Merritt posted on Twitter: "My son, Jack, who was killed in this attack, would not wish his death to be used as the pretext for more draconian sentences or for detaining people unnecessarily.

"R.I.P. Jack: you were a beautiful spirit who always took the side of the underdog."

Khan was known to the police before yesterday's deadly attack. He and others had previously been sentenced for their role in plots to blow up the London Stock Exchange, the home of then London Mayor Boris Johnson, as well as the American embassy.

Police in London Bridge (PA)

The 28-year-old received an indeterminate sentence in 2012, with a minimum term of eight years but a year later had his sentenced reduced to a standard 16-year jail term, where offenders serve half before their release.

He was released from jail in December 2018.

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