Inquest slams lack of protection in London terror attack that killed ‘heroic’ Australians

England's chief coroner has criticised the lack of barriers to protect pedestrians on London Bridge at the end of a lengthy inquest into the killing of eight people during an extremist attack two years ago.

Coroner Mark Lucraft said on Friday that the eight people, including two Australians, were "unlawfully killed" during a van and knife attack on June 3, 2017 that also left 48 people badly injured.

Australian nurse Kirsty Boden ran towards the chaos to help victims.Credit:ninevms

Philippe Pigeard, father of victim Alexandre Pigeard, said outside the court that there had been "a lot of missed opportunities" to stop the assault.

"I think this attack could have been prevented," he said, citing the lack of protection along the bridge as one factor.

Earlier on Friday, one of London's top police officers commended the selfless heroism of Australian nurse Kirsty Boden, one of the victims.

Ms Boden, 28, and fellow Australian Sara Zelenak, 21, were murdered along with Canadian Christine Archibald, 30; Frenchmen Xavier Thomas, 45, Sebastian Belanger, 36, and Alexandre Pigeard, 26; Briton James McMullan, 32; and Spaniard Ignacio Echeverria, 39.

Metropolitan Police Assistant Commissioner Neil Basu said the bravery, heroism and humanity of ordinary people stood out above all else, particularly that of Ms Boden, Mr Echeverria and Mr McMullan.

"Members of the public helped those who had been seriously injured, tried to distract, fight and stop these three men from attacking others," he said.

"Kirsty, a nurse, rushed outside to give urgent medical care to those who were injured, including Alexandre [Pigeard].

"Ignacio stopped to help police officers and members of the public as they were fighting the attackers, armed only with his skateboard.

"James tried to help Sara [Zelenak] up from the floor. They all paid the ultimate price as they all selflessly tried to help others."

Mr Pigeard said it had been an incredibly long process of trying to understand what happened that night.

"It's over now and despite a rigorous investigation, I still don't know precisely what happened to my son during the first attack," he said.

He said he believed that, given the information intelligence agencies had known about ringleader Butt's radicalisation and that London Bridge did not have vehicle barriers at the time, the attack may have been prevented.

"My son was good for humanity, he was gentle, he was marvellous, it's a big loss … for every one of us [the victim's families]," he added.

AP

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