A man accused of stabbing three people to death while shouting words to the effect of “Allahu Akbar” in a suspected terror attack in Reading has appeared in court.
Khairi Saadallah, 25, is charged with murdering James Furlong, 36, David Wails, 49, and Joseph Ritchie-Bennett, 39, with a large kitchen knife in Forbury Gardens shortly before 7pm on Saturday 20 June.
Furlong and Ritchie-Bennett were each stabbed once in the neck and Wails was stabbed once in his back. They were each declared dead at the scene.
Saadallah is also charged with attempting to murder their friend Stephen Young, as well as Patrick Edwards and Nishit Nisudan who were sitting in a nearby group in the park, during an attack lasting less than two minutes.
Young needed 28 stitches after he was knifed once in his head. Edwards was stabbed in the back and Nisudan sustained wounds to his face and hand. They have all since been released from hospital.
Saadallah, who came to the UK from Libya as a refugee in 2012, appeared before Westminster magistrates court on Monday by video link from Coventry magistrates court, close to where he was being held in police custody.
Wearing a grey, prison-issue tracksuit and blue face mask, he stood in the dock to confirm his name, date of birth and that he lived in Reading.
Jan Newbold, prosecuting, told the court that Saadallah was alleged to have bought the knife from a supermarket the day before the attack.
She said he began to stab people “without warning or provocation”, adding: “At the time of the incident, the defendant was heard to shout words to the effect of ‘Allahu Akbar’ [God is great].”
Saadallah did not enter pleas to three charges of murder and three of attempted murder during a hearing lasting less than 10 minutes.
The chief magistrate, Emma Arbuthnot, remanded him in custody until Wednesday, when he is due to appear before the Old Bailey.
The first sentence of this article was amended on 6 July 2020 to better reflect detail given in the story.