Stab victim played dead during London terror attack

Isobel Rowbotham tells inquest that terrorist Usman Khan left her for dead during his five-minute rampage

Isobel Rowbotham told an inquest that she saw Jack Merritt after he was stabbed by the terrorist Usman Khan

A woman repeatedly stabbed by a former prisoner at a rehabilitation conference in London told an inquest on Wednesday how she played dead during the attack

Isobel Rowbotham said that terrorist Usman Khan, 28, left her for dead during a knife rampage that killed two of her charity colleagues in November 2019.

She worked part-time for Learning Together, a charity that organised the conference at Fishmongers' Hall in central London where the attack started.

Khan killed Cambridge University graduates Saskia Jones, 23, and Jack Merritt, 25, and injured three others.

He was shot dead by police on nearby London Bridge after he fled the scene.

Ms Rowbotham told the court that she saw Mr Merritt covered in blood and in great pain before Khan came for her carrying two large kitchen knives.

Ms Rowbotham shouted at him to stop but he stabbed her repeatedly. "I remember his final stabs were in my neck as if they were intending to finish me,” she said.

"I was on the floor and had closed my eyes but could still hear. I decided to play dead just in case he came back again.”

Khan was jailed in 2012 after being found guilty of plotting to bomb the headquarters of the London Stock Exchange. He was out on licence when he went to the event.

The inquest heard on Tuesday how Khan had told other people at the conference that he had been led down the wrong path and had changed his ways.

The killings led to tighter restrictions on the release of prisoners who had served part of their sentences.