On 20 June 2020, a shocking incident occurred in Forbury Gardens, Reading, Berkshire, UK, as a man wielding a knife carried out a deadly attack on individuals enjoying a moment of leisure amidst the brief reprieve from COVID-19 restrictions. This tragic event resulted in three fatalities and left three others with serious injuries.
The perpetrator, 25-year-old Libyan male refugee Khairi Saadallah, was swiftly arrested and charged with three counts of murder and three counts of attempted murder, to which he entered a guilty plea. In January 2021, a court sentenced Saadallah to a whole-life term for his heinous crimes.
Saadallah’s method was brutal and indiscriminate, using an 8-inch kitchen knife to stab his victims in vulnerable areas, including the eye, neck, head, and back. A witness described the attack as “completely random,” highlighting the terrifying nature of the event.
Tragically, the three men who lost their lives were friends and members of the local LGBT+ community. Post-mortem examinations revealed that each man succumbed to a single stab wound, two to the neck, and one to the back.
While initial police statements did not classify the incident as terrorism, this assessment changed the following morning when Counter-Terrorism Policing South East declared the attacks a terror incident. Saadallah was re-arrested while in custody and charged under the Terrorism Act 2000.
Crimes That Shook Britain: Reading Park Stabbings airs Monday, 23 September 2024, at 9:00 pm on Crime & Investigation.
