When was the Finsbury Park mosque attack and what happened? – The Sun | The Sun

DARREN OSBORNE is the twisted killer behind the mosque attack that left the nation sickened in 2017.

June 19, 2023, marks six years since Osborne's hateful strike on worshippers in Finsbury Park, North London, and the killer is now serving a life sentence in prison.

What happened at the Finsbury Park mosque?

On June 19, 2017, Darren Osborne drove a hired van into a group of Muslim worshippers leaving a mosque in Finsbury Park, London, after late-night Ramadan prayers.

One person, grandfather Makram Ali, was killed and nine others were injured.

Osborne was arrested by police after he was pinned down by bystanders.

Father-of-four Darren later admitted he had initially hoped to "plough through" as many people as possible at the pro-Palestinian Al Quds march in central London, previously attended by Jeremy Corbyn.

After driving his rented van from his home in Cardiff to London, road closures thwarted his plan so, instead, he travelled across London in hunt of a mosque to carry out his evil plan.

Osborne eventually ended up in Finsbury Park at around midnight.

CCTV footage showed the attacker's van circling roads close to the Muslim Welfare House and Finsbury Park mosque before turning sharply left into the crowded pavement at the entrance of Whadcoat Street at 12.16am.

Just two minutes earlier Makram Ali, who was 51 at the time, had collapsed in the street after attending evening prayers.

Bystanders rushed to his aid but it was then that Osborne launched his hateful attack – fatally striking Ali and injuring others.

When was Darren Osborne found guilty of the attack?

A jury took less than an hour to find Darren Osborne guilty of both murder and attempted murder on February 1, 2018.

Osborne had denied both charges, claiming that "a guy called Dave" was really behind the attack.

"Dave" did not appear on any of the CCTV footage and Prosecutor Jonathan Rees said Darren's claims were "a desperate attempt to place Dave in the driver’s seat".

At Osborne's trial, which lasted nine days, the court heard how he had driven around London in a van looking for mosques on the night of the attack.

Witnesses who saw him before he arrived in North London on June 18 described him as "agitated" and "nervous".

His partner Sarah Andrews told the court he had become "obsessed with Muslims" after watching the BBC drama Three Girls, about the abuse of white girls by grooming gangs in Rochdale.

Osborne also admitted to plotting to kill Jeremy Corbyn and London Mayor Sadiq Khan at a pro-Palestine rally, before abandoning the plot due to tight security.

Which prison is Darren Osborne in?

Osborne was sentenced to life in prison with a minimum term of 43 years in February 2018.

The judge described his sick attack as a "suicide mission" where Osborne expected to be shot and killed by police.

As of 2023 Osborne is serving his sentence at HMP Frankland in County Durham.

He was previously being held at HMP Wakefield and also spent time in Full Sutton prison near York in 2020.

Darren has been targeted by a number of "revenge attacks" since being locked up.

In 2019 he had boiling water thrown in his face and the following year he suffered a forehead wound and splinter in his right eye after an attack with a sharpened paintbrush handle.

In February 2023 he was said to have been left badly scarred after being ambushed by an inmate with a "shank" knife.

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