The father of a man murdered in a Reading park wants assurances from the home secretary that any changes to prevent further attacks will be properly implemented.
Gary Furlong’s son James, David Wails, and Joe Ritchie-Bennett were stabbed to death by Khairi Saadallah in Forbury Gardens in June 2020.
The BBC reported that Judge coroner Sir Adrian Fulford said their deaths were avoidable and found major problems with intelligence sharing between authorities.
Those authorities said they had worked together to make changes since the spring.
Home Office minister Dan Jarvis told the House of Commons on Monday he was happy to meet the victims’ families.
According to the BBC, Mr Furlong said he hoped Mr Jarvis and Home Secretary Yvette Cooper would provide details of lasting changes.
Saadallah was given a whole-life term in 2021 after admitting murder and the attempted murder of three other men.
He arrived in the UK in 2012 as a teenage refugee, having fought in the Libyan revolution, and suffered from PTSD, among other conditions.
He spent years in and out of prison for a range of violent offences, including multiple assaults on police officers and possessing knives.
“There have been fundamental problems and still are fundamental problems in mental health services within prisons," Mr Furlong said.
"People are being released from prison when they’re not actually being treated.
"There’s a problem in how we release people back into society. It is not managed."
While in prison in 2017, authorities noted Saadallah was spending time with notorious Islamist radicaliser Omar Brooks, also known as Abu Izzadeen, a long-time member of the now outlawed group al-Muhajiroun.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here