The Staffordshire police is being investigated following the London Bridge attack last month where Usman Khan killed two people before he was shot dead.
The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) is investigating the force’s role in the management of Khan following his release from prison last year, reported the Guardian on Thursday (12). He had been living in Stafford since his release.
Khan, who was given permission to travel to London by the police and probation service, went on a rampage on November 29, killing Cambridge graduates Jack Merritt and Saskia Jones. The attacker was shot dead by police after being tackled by members of the public.
The IOPC had already started investigating the fatal shooting of Khan.
IOPC director of London Sal Naseem told the Guardian: “Our separate investigation into the decisions and actions of Staffordshire police has just begun and will be conducted alongside the investigation into the shooting.”
Khan was arrested in 2010 from Stoke as part of a nine-member Al Qaeda plot to blow up the London Stock Exchange and plans to set up a terrorist training factory in the garb of a madrassa.
He was jailed indefinitely for public protection in 2012, but this was replaced by a 16-year sentence on appeal.
Prime minister Boris Johnson has said it is “ridiculous” and “repulsive” that someone as dangerous as Khan could be released after only eight years.
Speaking on the BBC Andrew Marr show, the prime minister blamed Khan’s release on Labour, saying: “His release was necessary under the law because of the automatic early release scheme under which he was sentenced, that was the reality, and that was brought in by Labour with the support of Jeremy Corbyn and the rest of the Labour Party.
“I opposed it both in 2003 and 2008, and now that I am Prime Minister I’m going to take steps to make sure that people are not released early when they commit… serious sexual, violent or terrorist offences.”
