Mural to Reading terror attack victims reappears on bridge

In the summer of 2020, three men who were enjoying the sun in Forbury Gardens were viciously attacked by a terrorist who was heard shouting ‘Allahu Akbar’.

Now, a mural dedicated to the victims has ‘reappeared’ on Reading Bridge after an original one was painted over in a council mix up last summer.

The victims Joe Ritchie Bennett, James Furlong and David Wails are represented as cherubs amongst the Forbury Lion.

The new mural by street artist Peachy Official differs from the original.

It now includes the first names of the victims, but is missing a feature of the original which had one of the cherubs holding a rose that was shedding petals.

A mural to the victims of the Reading terror attack at Reading Bridge which was painted over by council staff last year. Credit: _peachyofficial

All three of the men were stabbed to death by Khairi Saadallah, an asylum seeker from Libya.

Stephen Young, Patrick Edwards and Nishit Nisudan were also injured in the attack, before Saadallah was tackled and detained by police.

The mural appeared on Sunday, February 4.

In messages to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, Peachy said:  “I’m very close contact with the families of the victims and they have been so keen to see it up again.

“It has taken way too long so I made the decision to put it up again.

“It turned into a huge part of the Reading community and should have stayed in the first place.”

An inquest into the attack is taking place over six weeks to establish whether lessons can be learned from the incident.

READ MORE: Family of man killed in Reading terror attack says their calendar is 'frozen in time' since his death 

The original mural was painted over in June last year, with a council spokesperson apologising at the time.

They also said that the council would speak with Peachy to see whether it would be possible to recreate the artwork.

However, Peachy claimed that negotiations with the council ‘took too long’ which led him to reinstate the mural.

The council has since introduced a Street Art Policy, which is aimed at keeping graffiti if it has significant artistic value. 

Reading terror attack victims Joe Ritchie Bennett, James Furlong and David Wails. Credit: Police Handouts

On its part, a spokesperson for Reading Borough Council said: “We fully appreciate the sensitivity and affection for this mural in the Reading community and the families and friends of James Furlong, Joe Ritchie-Bennett and David Wails.

“The painting over of the original mural was a regrettable error, for which we apologised to the families of James, Joe and David.

“This restoration of the original artwork is not subject to the Council’s Street Art Policy as the piece was created prior to the policy’s introduction last year, so it will remain in situ. 

 “Street art created since the policy’s introduction is referred to the Street Art Panel, who evaluate pieces against a range of criteria set out in the policy.”