London subway stabber had jihadi images on phone

A mentally ill taxi driver who went on a knife rampage at a London subway station had images of a slain British soldier and an Islamic State member on his phone, a British prosecutor says.

Muhaydin Mire, 30, went on trial this week at London’s Central Criminal Court on attempted murder charges for slashing the throat of musician Lyle Zimmerman and lashing out at several others at Leytonstone station on December 5.

Prosecutor Jonathan Rees tells jurors that Mire’s phone contained images of Fusilier Lee Rigby — who was hacked to death in a London street by al-Qaida-inspired attackers in 2013 — and Mohammed Emwazi, a British militant nicknamed “Jihadi John” who appeared in IS videos showing the beheading of hostages.

“The contents of the defendant’s phone, when looked at alongside what he said during the course of the incident … provides an insight as to what motivated the defendant to do what he did,” Rees says.

He says Zimmerman suffered “a deep and ragged wound” to his neck and was kicked repeatedly during the attack.

— AP