London Bridge terror attack: Ex-convict sprayed fire extinguisher into Usman Khan's eyes so that man with narwhal tusk could stab him

A former convict who tackled the London Bridge terrorist has revealed how he used a fire extinguisher in an attempt to blind Usman Khan so that a man wielding a narwahl tusk could stab him. 

John Crilly, who served 13 years in prison for murder before his sentence was quashed, was one of a group of people to take down Khan, who killed two people on November 29. 

Mr Crilly, 48, was convicted of murdering 71-year-old Augustine Maduemezia, but his conviction was rescinded after a Supreme Court ruling on joint enterprise law and he was released in 2018.

The court ruled the law on joint enterprise - where defendants were prosecuted for murder even if they did not strike the fatal blow - had been misinterpreted.

He told the Daily Mirror that he used the foam from a fire extinguisher he picked up at Fishmongers Hall as a weapon against Khan, who was wearing a hoax suicide belt.

"At first, I thought throw that at him, then I thought I could spray it and soak the belt, maybe short-circuit the belt," he said.

"I started spraying him and it seemed to do the job. I was spraying it in his eyes...he can’t see and that gives the whale guy a chance to give him a poke." 

Video footage from the terror attack shows a bystander holding a narwhal tusk, which had been ripped from a wall inside Fishmongers Hall where Khan, Mr Crilly and others were taking part in a prisoner rehabilitation conference. 

This is where Khan started his rampage, and Mr Crilly has shed light on the details of what happened inside the venue before the terrorist was chased out onto the street where he was shot dead by police. 

He told the Daily Mirror: "At the bottom of the stairs stood Usman Khan with his two knives out jumping about like a mad man. It didn’t take too long to realise what was going on.

"Without stereotyping, he had a big beard, two knives, shouting ‘Allahu akbar’. He was wearing a suicide belt."

Mr Crilly also said that an armed Khan told them: "I'm going to kill you all," before lunging at crowds with his knives.

Talking about the burglary in Manchester that went wrong and ended with one of his co-defendants killing a pensioner with a single punch, he said: "My life has been spent wishing that day never happened."