Concerns over possible "extremist" views of the man who stabbed two people in Streatham before being shot by armed police were voiced prior to his release from prison, an inquest has heard.
The full jury inquest into the death of Sudesh Amman on a south London street began today (August 2).
The 20-year-old was shot by armed police after he stole a 20cm knife from a shop on Streatham High Road on Sunday, February 2 last year and stabbed two bystanders while wearing a fake suicide vest.
Both victims survived the attack.
On the opening day of the inquest, the court heard how police were concerned about Amman's release from prison in 2020.
The court heard how reports of the prison authorities recorded that he retained extremist views while at Belmarsh Prison.
The inquest heard that a search of Amman’s prison cell found some hand-written notes in Arabic that "appeared to show a pledge of loyalty" to the leader of so-called Islamic State.
He also showed signs that he had not reformed as late as January 3, 2020, three weeks before his release into the community.
Detective Superintendent Dominic Murphy said: "He told another prisoner he was ‘not finished with these non-believers yet’, which was a direct quote."
Murphy said police were so concerned about Amman that they asked the prison governor to keep him in custody past his automatic release date.
But the request was turned down because the offence Amman committed could not justify an extension of his sentence, the inquest heard.
Amman, originally of Harrow, had been under surveillance following his release from HMP Belmarsh, in Thamesmead, days prior to the attack.
He was jailed after pleading guilty to six counts of possessing documents containing terrorist information and seven counts of disseminating terrorist publications in November 2018.
He was released in January 2020, two-thirds of the way through his three-year and four-month sentence.
The inquest into his death, held before a jury at the Royal Courts of Justice in central London, is listed to last up to three weeks.
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