Streatham terror attack: Sudesh Amman caught on CCTV being tailed by police before attack

The first footage has emerged of the Streatham terror attacker being followed by police minutes before he stabbed two people on Sunday.

The CCTV footage from a private property shows Sudesh Amman moments after he left a bail hostel following his release from prison in January.

A plain-clothed police officer who was trailing Amman on a motorbike is seen travelling down the same road between two and three minutes later.

Amman and the police officer can be seen on a street which is around a 15-minute walk away from the Streatham High Road, where the terror attack took place.

The 20-year-old appears to be wearing a grey woolly hat and black jumper with a large white image across the middle.

Amman was under police surveillance when he stabbed two people in south London while wearing a fake suicide vest. He was then shot dead by officers.

Police said witness statements suggest Amman stole a knife from a shop and was pursued by a shop assistant.

Detectives added that as he ran from the shop he removed the knife’s packaging and attacked two members of the public.

One of the victims has been named as primary school teacher Monika Luftner.

A passerby, who only gave his first name Giuseppe, was the first person to help her after she was stabbed.

He told Sky News: “When I see this, I said to myself – I need to help this girl.

“I’m looking around for this guy, but my mind it was just – I need to help this girl.

“Because if this was my mum, I’m a bad guy if I don’t help her.”

The Metropolitan Police said in a statement: “Armed officers, who were part of a proactive counter-terrorism surveillance operation relating to the attacker, were following him as he left an address in the Streatham area at shortly after 13:20hrs.

“He then made his way on foot and was observed entering a shop on Streatham High Road shortly before 14:00hrs.”

Metropolitan Police assistant commissioner Neil Basu had praised his officers for their actions but warned that “with 3,000 or so subjects of interest currently on our radar and many convicted terrorists soon due to be released from prison, we simply cannot watch all of them, all the time”.

Amman had been jailed for possessing and distributing terrorist documents in December 2018, but was freed automatically halfway through his sentence less than a fortnight ago.

There are 224 terrorists in jail in Britain, with most thought to be holding Islamist extremist views, according to the latest published figures to the end of September.

Figures suggests that under current laws, up to 50 terrorists could be freed this year.

(c) Sky News 2020: Streatham terror attack: Sudesh Amman caught on CCTV being tailed by police before attack