Reading police chief on how the force reacted to the Forbury Gardens attack

That was Reading police chief Nicholas John’s reaction in the minutes after last year’s Forbury Gardens terror attack.

The stabbings, which left three people dead, sparked panic among the residents who were enjoying a summer’s day at the town park.

But “within minutes” of the 20 to 30 calls police received in the moments after the attack, police were rushing to the scene.

Police running towards attacker

Recalling his memory of the tragic day, Nicholas told the Chronicle: “Within minutes we were in the park and [there were] officers giving CPR to those that needed it.

READ MORE: MP 'proud' of community following terror attack

“And then within minutes we'd arrested somebody. We were so quick to respond [and] we were able to try and gain control of a tragic terrorist incident really quickly.

“I wasn't actually on duty. I was at home with the family when I got the phone call at about eight o'clock, at which point I then made some calls to some other people, our partners, the local authority, etc.

“And I made my way in and I think I got into Reading about him half-past nine that evening. At that point I took over as the commander for the incident.

“Before I left, I could see online straightaway people were uploading videos, people were uploading comments and you start searching on hashtags to see what's out there.

“So straightaway, I started to realise the severity of what we were dealing with.”

Nicholas said the force’s command structure and operational response “kicked in” immediately following the attack.

Nick John, Image via Twitter

Speaking about his role on June 20, 2020, he added: “My job as a commander of a police area is to make sure that actually we are doing our utmost to support the public, we're doing our utmost to respond to the incident, but also I need to look after the welfare of my staff.

READ MORE: How Reading will remember Forbury Gardens attack one year on

“All these things start running through your mind as you're driving in. You think we need to do this, we need to do this, at the same time making sure that we've got the capacity and capability to respond effectively.

“We then know we need to lock down an area because we've obviously got a very serious incident.

“We then need to start thinking ‘we need people on that corner, we need people on that cordon’ and we start to work really effectively through our natural experiences to put those things in place, and they kind of almost kick in as a second nature, which is really tragic because it shows, unfortunately, this isn’t the first time we’ve dealt with critical incidents.

Police at Abbey Gateway

“On this scale, we've not seen anything [like this] in Reading before.”

The investigation into what happened soon turned into a counter-terrorism probe with several armed police officers seen entering flats off Basingstoke Road in Reading at around 11pm on the same evening.

Nicholas explained that counter-terrorism officers taking over the investigation from Thames Valley Police was a “perfectly normal” process.

READ MORE: Priti Patel writes for the Chronicle on the Forbury Gardens terror attack

He said: “Ultimately, the initial response to this investigation was managed by Thames Valley Police.

“When it became apparent there could be some elements that were terrorism-related that's when counterterrorism came in and took control and that's a perfectly normal remit.

“In the immediate aftermath in the first 12 hours, it was under the complete management of Thames Valley Police.

Armed officers at Basingstoke Road

“But, again, when these things happen we work very, very well and effectively with other agencies such as counterterrorism and throughout the process of investigation, the working relationship that I had with the senior investigating officer, and the counterterrorism team was second to none.

“That enabled us to support them in supporting the community to bring this to a successful prosecution.”

Police officers worked round the clock in the days that followed Khairi Saadallah’s attack.

This was shown in that the deaths of the three men who lost their lives -- James Furlong, Joe Ritchie-Bennett and David Wails -- were announced at 1.30 am on Sunday, June 21.

READ MORE: New cash to make streets safe will mean police don't have to 'chase criminals'

Looking back at last year’s events, Nicholas added: “My overarching memory, aside from the tragedy of three people being murdered, and three others seriously injured, is the way that the community pulled together.

“‘The strength of the community is judged on how it reacts in times of crisis.’

“And I don't say this lightly but I'm immensely proud of the way that community pulled together and refused to let terrorism defeat us and refused to let a terrorist act change how we approach daily life within Reading.

“Of course, it was very tense, very worrying, very concerning, because even though we'd reacted incredibly quickly and were working with counterterrorism and several partners to respond to this, we didn’t know who may also be involved in the initial aftermath, so there's always going to be that that added tension and added concern.

“But the fact that we were out there, we were visible, we were working with our partners, we were speaking to the community, we were trying to support the different pockets of communities across the borough, meant that we were all in this together.

READ MORE: Timeline of Forbury Gardens terror attack

“And I think that really showed when you think about some of the conversations and some of the engagement that I've had and the praise that we received.

“The immense sense of pride that I have in my officers and the way they responded in the organisation, the way Thames Valley Police pulled together to support me and my team and Reading in the aftermath of this was phenomenal.”

One year on, Nicholas is asking residents to remain vigilant as restrictions ease and the weather improves.

Any concerns about terrorism can be reported through 999 or through the ACT (Action Counters Terrorism) website.

He said: “If somebody sees something, they should not be afraid to report it because even though it might be very small, it might be a very small piece of the jigsaw, but it might be the final piece we need to identify that crime.”