The man who helped to bring London Bridge terrorist Usman Khan down using a fire extinguisher is being a former heroin addict jailed for his part in a manslaughter.
John Crilly, 48, was one of the heroes praised after the terror attack for using a fire extinguisher to help stop Khan's murderous knife rampage, pinning him back with the help of Polish chef Lukasz, who was using a narwhal tusk.
It has now emerged that reformed criminal Crilly had turned his life around with help from Jack Merritt, one one of two people murdered at Fishmongers' Hall by Cardiff park terror plotter Usman Khan.
Then drug addict Crilly stole a blender and a mobile phone in a bungled burglary in which his accomplice killed a 71-year-old man in 2005.
He was initially jailed for murder by Lord Brian Leveson under the joint enterprise law but this conviction was later quashed and he is now out of prison on licence after serving 13 years for manslaughter.
Crilly had turned his life around thanks to rehabilitation schemes like the one Cambridge University graduate Jack was involved with.
They had become friends at the Learning Together scheme at HMP Grendon and Jack had travelled to Manchester for Crilly's graduation after he took a degree in law through the Open University.
Writing on Facebook after Jack's death, Crilly said: " Why!? This guy, Jack Merrit, the best guy I ever met. Jack actually tried helping this guy! To educate him.
"As he educated me. Jack came all the way from Cambridge to be at my graduation in Manchester. How proud am I to be called Jack Merrit's friend."
Crilly had been given a life sentence for murder and robbery in 2005 after he and his associate David Flynn broke into the home of 71-year-old Augustine Maduemezia in Manchester.
Mr Maduemezia died after being punched in the face by Flynn.
But Crilly was released in 2018 after having his joint enterprise conviction for murder quashed and pleading guilty to manslaughter instead. It was accepted he did not use the fatal, or any, force in the attack.
Joint enterprise is used to convict defendants in gang-related cases even if they did not strike the fatal blow, but could have foreseen violent acts by their associates.
During his time in prison, Crilly started a law degree. When he the joint enterprise law was overturned by the Supreme Court in 2016, he believed it would apply to his case.
After having his conviction quashed, he told BBC Radio 5 Live: "I wasn't a violent drug addict. I was lost. I was lost in drugs. I had a bad life, I've changed it, but I wasn't guilty of murder. I totally accept what I did and it was wrong. That's important to me. I'm not a murderer."
After appeal, Crilly pleaded guilty to manslaughter.
Last week, astonishing images showed Crilly with a fire extinguisher and a man with a narwhal tusk leading the charge against Khan, who had also killed Mr Merritt's colleague Saskia Jones, 23, before the terrorist was shot dead by police.
A statement from his family said: "Jack Merritt, our beautiful, talented boy, died doing what he loved, surrounded by people he loved and who loved him. He lit up our lives and the lives of his many friends and colleagues, and we will miss him terribly.
"Jack lived his principles; he believed in redemption and rehabilitation, not revenge, and he always took the side of the underdog.
"Jack was an intelligent, thoughtful and empathetic person who was looking forward to building a future with his girlfriend, Leanne, and making a career helping people in the criminal justice system."
Ms Jones, a volunteer on the programme from Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, was described as having "great passion" for providing support to victims of crime by her family.
In a statement they said: "She was intent on living life to the full and had a wonderful thirst for knowledge, enabling her to be the best she could be."
