At the time Amman was under active counter-terrorism surveillance, after having recently being released from prison on licence; he had been convicted in 2018 for disseminating terrorist material.

[4][5] The attacker, who had stolen a knife from a store just before the incident and wore silver canisters strapped to his chest, was chased along Streatham High Road and then shot dead by police outside the doors of a Boots chemists.

[10][11][12] A college student at the time of his arrest, he had shared an al-Qaeda magazine in a family WhatsApp group and told his siblings: "the Islamic State is here to stay".

[9][13] During his 2018 trial, the prosecution stated that Amman "had discussed with his family, friends and girlfriend his strong and often extreme views on jihad, the kuffar, and his desire to carry out a terrorist attack".

[16] British Prime Minister Boris Johnson thanked the emergency services for responding to the incident, and said that his thoughts were "with the injured and all those affected".

Mayor of London Sadiq Khan thanked the "police, security and emergency services staff for their swift and courageous response".