London Bridge knifeman Usman Khan was handed more than £350,000 in legal aid, with £12,000 to appeal his previous terrorism sentence.

Khan was a member of an al-Qaeda-inspired cell which plotted to blow up the London Stock Exchange and kill Boris Johnson, but a case against him for this was never pursued.

He later pleaded guilty to preparing terrorist acts and was given an indefinite sentence.

Because of his tax-payer funded appeal, he was free from prison on license when he went on a knife rampage killing two and injuring several more in central London in November.

London Bridge knifeman Usman Khan was handed more than £350,000 in legal aid, with £12,000 to appeal his previous terrorism sentence

Khan was charged with conspiracy to cause explosions and other terrorism offences in late December 2010, along with eight others, but a case against him was never pursued.

In 2012, he pleaded guilty to preparing terrorist acts - for plotting to build a madrasah in Kashmir for men who wished to fight - and was sentenced to indeterminate detention with a minimum of eight years.

He was handed £124,136 for a solicitor and £217,324 for a barrister, a total of £341,460 for representation at court The Sun on Sunday has revealed.

In 2013 Lord Justice Leveson wrote that the original decision had 'wrongly characterised' Khan and fellow group members Mohammad Shahjahan and Nazam Hussein as more dangerous than the other six.

Because of this tax-payer funded appeal, he was free from prison on license when he went on a knife rampage killing two and injuring several more in central London in November. Pictured: Members of the public tackle Khan after his rampage

'Although we recognise that training terrorists in the use of firearms could only lead to potential loss of life... the fulfilment of that goal was further removed and there were other obstacles,' Leveson wrote.

Khan won the appeal, and his indefinite term was changed to a fixed 16 year sentence, along with five-year extended licence periods.

That meant Khan left prison in December 2018, apparently feigning rehabilitation, but committed the London Bridge atrocity only 12 months later.

Khan attacked five people including the graduates, armed with two kitchen knives and wearing a fake suicide vest, before he was tackled. Pictured: Police photographer at the scene

Cambridge University graduates Jack Merritt, 25, and Saskia Jones, 23, were attacked by Khan during a prisoner rehabilitation event at Fishmongers' Hall.

The pair were course co-ordinators on the Learning Together programme, which is aimed at bringing offenders and people in higher education together to 'study alongside each other'.

Khan attacked five people including the graduates, armed with two kitchen knives and wearing a fake suicide vest, before he was tackled.

He was then shot dead by police at point-blank range.