Darren Osborne, the Finsbury Park attacker is among terrorists inspired by extremist material that fell outside the purview of terror laws

Darren Osborne has been jailed for life for launching the Finsbury Park terror attack.

A jury found him guilty of murder and attempted murder at the end of a nine-day trial, dismissing his “absurd” claim another man had ploughed the van into a crowd of Muslims and vanished.

Justice Cheema-Grubb explained Osborne had not been charged with a terror offence because it was unnecessary to use specific laws in murder cases, adding: “Murder is murder, whether done for terror motives or some other motive."

She sentenced him to serve two concurrent life sentences with a minimum term of 43 years, telling Osborne the jury had "seen through your pathetic last-ditch attempt to deceive them".

The case was prosecuted as an act of terrorism and, like the killers of Jo Cox and Lee Rigby, Osborne could have his murder sentence lengthened because of his aims.

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Woolwich Crown Court heard how Makram Ali, a 51-year-old grandfather, had collapsed just two minutes before the atrocity shortly after midnight on 19 June.

A crowd of Muslim worshippers, several of them wearing traditional clothing, gathered around him to help before being spotted by Osborne as he looped around Finsbury Park in search of a target.

Survivors described how they chased the 48-year-old down after he crashed the van and stumbled out of the driver’s seat.

He fought against those trying to pin him to the ground, then smiled and said: “I’ve done my job, you can kill me now.”

Witnesses gave the court harrowing accounts of seeing Mr Ali’s body on the ground and nine other victims “scattered” around him, including one man trapped under the van who was left with life-changing injuries.

A note found in the vehicle – scribbled down in a pub the night before – contained Osborne's ranting against Muslims, grooming gangs, Jeremy Corbyn, Sadiq Khan and Lily Allen.

He denied charges of murder and attempted murder but submitted no statement in his defence until Friday – after hearing five days of evidence proving his guilt.

Finsbury Park attack Show all 14 1 /14 Finsbury Park attack Finsbury Park attack Police officers attend to the scene after a vehicle collided with pedestrians in the Finsbury Park, killing one person and injuring eight Reuters Finsbury Park attack The incident is being treated as a potential terror attack Reuters Finsbury Park attack A man has been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder Reuters Finsbury Park attack Police cordon off a street in Finsbury Park AFP/Getty Images Finsbury Park attack A man prays in the street after the attack Reuters Finsbury Park attack Men gather and pray together in the street in the aftermath of the attack AFP/Getty Finsbury Park attack Reuters Finsbury Park attack PA Finsbury Park attack Onlookers gather near a police cordon EPA Finsbury Park attack Forensic investigators arrive at the scene PA Finsbury Park attack A forensic tent stands next to a van PA Finsbury Park attack A police officer talks with residents AFP/Getty Images Finsbury Park attack Onlookers watch proceedings at the security cordon AFP/Getty Finsbury Park attack Local residents react at the scene AFP/Getty Images

Osborne’s new story claimed that he mounted the original plan to cause “as much damage as possible” at a pro-Palestinian march in London with two men he met in a Welsh pub.

He told the court that alongside supposed co-conspirators Dave and Terry Jones, he hoped to found a Welsh far-right group called the “Taffia”.

Osborne said he was prepared to die targeting the Al-Quds Day march on 18 June but could not reach the central London rally because of road closures, so started searching for a new target.

“In his mind, the defendant had cast all Muslims as criminals and decided to take matters into his own hands and punish them,” prosecutor Jonathan Rees QC said, saying the atrocity was inspired by a “hatred of all Muslims that had its roots in the material Osborne had watched on television and viewed online”.

Osborne’s partner, Sarah Andrews, told the court the "functioning alcoholic" was being treated for depression and had considered suicide in the weeks leading up to the attacks.

She said he had become “brainwashed” after watching a drama on grooming gangs in Rochdale and reading social media posts by far-right leaders including Tommy Robinson and Jayda Fransen.