There were “opportunities galore” to identify that the London Bridge extremists were plotting an attack, an inquest has heard.
Gareth Patterson, the lawyer representing several victims’ families, said there was evidence the attackers had been in contact since January 2017.
Eight people died in the attack on 3 June 2017. But investigating officer Acting Det Ch Insp Wayne Jolley denied there had been missed opportunities
Mr Patterson told the hearing at the Old Bailey in London that “any reasonably competent investigation” had the chance to detect the planning that was going on between the three men. It would have taken the trio a “significant period of time” for them to become close enough to trust each other with planning an attack, he said.
Khuram Butt, 27, Rachid Redouane, 30, and Youssef Zaghba, 22, left 48 people injured when they attacked passsers-by near London Bridge with a van and knives, before being themselves shot dead by armed police.