The alleged attacker

The Finsbury Park mosque attacker is a father-of-four who drove a rented van from Wales to London to mow down a group of worshippers, it was claimed.

Darren Osborne, 47, grew up in the seaside town of Weston-Super-Mare, Somerset, before moving to Pentwyn, Cardiff.

He allegedly hired the £80-a-day van for his attack in the early hours of this morning.

People at the scene described how he allegedly shouted ‘I’m going to kill all Muslims – I did my bit’ after ramming the crowd gathered on the pavement.


The suspect could be seen apparently blowing a kiss from a police van after he was arrested.



The moment the police are taking the man who ploughed pedestrians in #FinsburyPark pic.twitter.com/Yr7mgS1mcz — Hamza Sharif (@HamzaJourno) June 19, 2017

Police were tonight searching Osborne’s suburban terraced home in Glyn Rhosyn, Pentwyn, for clues as they investigate what they are treating as terrorism and ‘clearly an attack on Muslims’.

Neighbours told of their shock after seeing pictures of Osborne being arrested by police.

Dave Ashford, 52, said: ‘Someone called me and said it was him and I said ‘It can’t be’. Then I saw the picture on the news and said ‘S***, it’s him’.’

Another neighbour said: ‘He had lived on the estate for a few years. He’s always been a complete c*** but this is really surprising.’

And another man who lived near Osborne’s home said: ‘I arrived home from work to find the street crawling with police – it’s a complete shock.’

The van used (Picture: EPA)

Osborne is believed to have hired the van from Pontyclun Van Hire, 15 miles away from his home in the Welsh capital.

Owners of the company today hit out at the ‘cowardly’ attack using one of their vehicles hired more than 160 miles away.

The company staff said they were ‘shocked and saddened’ that one of their vans was used.

A spokesman for the company said: ‘We at Pontyclun Van Hire are shocked and saddened by the incident that took place at Finsbury Park last night.

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‘We are co-operating fully with the Metropolitan Police investigation and our thoughts are with those who have been injured in this cowardly attack.

‘We will not be making any further statement because of the on-going police investigation but will continue to assist the police in any way we can.’

Officers arrived at 7.30am at the offices of Pontyclun Van Hire 168 miles away from the London mosque.

Staff at the company were interviewed by officers at their depot 12 miles north of Cardiff.

One neighbouring worker said: ‘This is a nightmare for them. They are completely innocent.’