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Reading stabbings: American Joe Ritchie-Bennett named as victim


Joe Ritchie-Bennett has been named as the second victim of the stabbings

An American man is the second victim of the Reading stabbings to be named.

Joe Ritchie-Bennett had lived in the UK for 15 years, his father confirmed to US TV network CBS. Teacher James Furlong and one other person also died.

Meanwhile, police continue to question the suspect in Saturday's attack, Khairi Saadallah, who has been arrested under the Terrorism Act.

Sources told the BBC he was originally from Libya and came to the attention of MI5 in 2019.

Two minute's silence was held at 10:00 BST for the three victims.

  • Live: Town in shock as tributes paid to victims

Robert Ritchie told CBS the family was "heartbroken" and described his son, who was originally from Philadelphia, as "brilliant and loving".

US ambassador to the UK Woody Johnson confirmed that an American citizen was killed and condemned the attack.

He said: "I offer my deepest condolences to the families of those killed. To our great sorrow, this includes an American citizen. Our thoughts are with all those affected."


Police officers carry flowers left at the scene of multiple stabbings in Reading

People were invited to join the silence via Reading Council's Facebook page.

Reading Borough Council leader Jason Brock said the town was "an incredibly strong community" where "people will come together and they won't allow themselves to be divided".

  • What we know so far

  • 'Reading weeps' as town mourns stab deaths

Mr Furlong, 36, was head of history, government and politics at The Holt School in Wokingham.

His parents Gary and Janet described their son as "beautiful, intelligent, honest and fun".

"He was the best son, brother, uncle and partner you could wish for. We are thankful for the memories he gave us all," they said in a statement. "We will never forget him and he will live in our hearts forever. James Furlong was described as an "inspirational" teacher

More than 100 students, some holding hands, gathered at the gates as a bell rang out to mark the start of the silence at the school where Mr Furlong taught, while a flag in the courtyard was lowered to half-mast.

One former pupil, Molly Collins, told BBC Radio 4's Today programme he was a "passionate and enthusiastic" teacher who dedicated extra time to helping students progress.

"I wouldn't have gone to university, I don't think, had I not spoken about it with him. He just really took the time to support me and make me more confident," she said.

Current pupils have also expressed their sadness at the news.

Sophie McEwan wrote on Instagram that Mr Furlong was "an inspirational teacher, [who] genuinely cared for all of us students".

And Emily Mugnier wrote: "Thank you for being an incredible, enthusiastic teacher and lover of life."


Staff and pupils stand for the two minute's silence in memory of teacher James Furlong at The Holt School, Wokingham

Co-head teachers at Mr Furlong's school said he "truly inspired everyone he taught".

Anne Kennedy and Katie Pearce said in a statement: "He was determined that our students would develop a critical awareness of global issues and in doing so, become active citizens and have a voice."

  • Thoughts with victims' families, PM says

Mr Furlong and his friend Mr Ritchie-Bennett were two of three people who died in Saturday's attack at Reading's Forbury Gardens, which police were called to at about 19:00 BST.

Witnesses say a lone attacker with a knife shouted "unintelligible words" and stabbed several people who were in a group.

Security guard Sydney McDonald, 65, said he saw the suspect being rugby-tackled to the ground by police and arrested shortly after the incident.

"There was a guy and I saw him pointing to a man and saying 'There he is, there he is'. If he hadn't, they would have missed him. He was running really fast, properly fast.

"They put the emergency brakes on, jumped out of the car and rugby-tackled him to the floor.

"They put the handcuffs on, he wasn't putting up a fight or anything like that, they picked him up and put him in the van, he just sat there all quiet, he wasn't saying nothing."

Three other people suffered serious injuries in the attack, but only one remains in hospital, where his condition is described as stable..

Mr Saadallah, 25, is from Reading and was arrested initially on suspicion of murder. He was later re-arrested on Sunday under Section 41 of the Terrorism Act 2000.

Under the Act, police have the power to detain him without charge for up to 14 days.

Suspect Khairi Saadallah

Police said they are not looking for anyone else in connection with the incident.

Sources told BBC's home affairs correspondent Dominic Casciani that Mr Saadallah came to the attention of the security services after they received information he had aspirations to travel abroad - potentially for terrorism-related reasons.

However when the information was further investigated no genuine threat or immediate risk was identified, our correspondent said.

It meant that no case file was opened which would have made him a target for further investigation.


Police tents and equipment at Forbury Gardens in Reading

Sir Mark Rowley, a former national lead for counter-terrorism policing, told the BBC that MI5 has 3,000 people under investigation, but there are 40,000 who have "touched the system" at some point.

He said there were many volatile people who become interested in extremist ideology, but the security services faced a problem in identifying which of those would turn into an attacker.

In the last three years 25 terrorism plots in the UK have been disrupted, said Security Minister James Brokenshire.

He said the threat was "complex, diverse" and "rapidly changing" with hundreds of leads in any given week.

'Learn from this'

Labour's shadow home secretary Nick Thomas-Symonds said that with the Ministry of Justice's budget having been cut by 40% over ten years, the government needed to re-examine the resources available for de-radicalisation programmes in prisons, as well as monitoring, supervision and risk assessment of released prisoners.

Boris Johnson has held a meeting with security officials, police and senior ministers over the incident in Reading, and the PM has promised action "if there are lessons that we need to learn".

Home Secretary Priti Patel said investigations were under way to "ensure justice was done" but also to "learn" from what happened over the weekend.

She is expected to update MPs on the incident in Parliament later on Monday.

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has said that "people are united in their grief" following the attack, and that he wants to speak to the prime minister to discuss how to "learn from this".

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