LONDON ATTACK One Dead in Terror Attack near Mosque

[gordi]

This looks like it might be a "retaliation" terror attack ON Muslims leaving their Mosque in London.

A White van mounted the pavement (sidewalk) and ploughed into a group of Muslim men in Finsbury Park, London.


SOURCE ARTICLE from The Guardian

“Unfortunately we have again woken up to another terrible incident in London where a man has taken hold of a van and driven it into a group of innocent people in Finsbury Park. There is one fatal fatality that we know about and a number of casualties and the police are treating it as terrorist incident. Londoners have been hit with a series of attacks and have actually been nothing short of heroic.”

Witness heard driver saying 'I want to kill Muslims'

The driver of a white van that ploughed into pedestrians was pinned to the ground by onlookers after saying: “I want to kill Muslims,” a witness has said.

Let's see how the media spin this one?

G

[BIAD]

Damn! Sorry Gordi, I just put a thread up the same time as you!
No worries though.

[BIAD]

[UK]Finsbury Park attack: Man dies as van hits worshippers.

'A man has died and 10 people have been injured after a man drove a van into worshippers
near a north London mosque.

The van struck people after mounting the pavement just after midnight BST outside Muslim Welfare
House, near Finsbury Park Mosque. A 48-year-old man has been arrested.



Home Secretary Amber Rudd said the attack was being treated as a "terrorist incident".
Eyewitness Abdul Rahman said the driver said he wanted to "kill all Muslims".
Mr Rahman told the BBC he struck the man and helped subdue him.

"When the guy came out from his van he wanted to escape, run away and he was saying
'I want to kill Muslims. 'I want to kill Muslims.' "I hit him on his stomach... and then me and
the other guys... we held him to the ground until he couldn't move.
We stopped him until the police came."


Counter-terrorism officers are at the scene, the Metropolitan Police said.
And extra police are being deployed to reassure communities, especially those observing Ramadan,
Mayor of London Sadiq Khan said.
He also said his "thoughts and prayers" were with those affected by the "horrific terrorist attack on
innocent people".

"While this appears to be an attack on a particular community, like the terrible attacks in Manchester,
Westminster and London Bridge it is also an assault on all our shared values of tolerance, freedom
and respect."

Harun Khan, secretary general of the Muslim Council of Britain said: "Over the past weeks and months
 Muslims have endured many incidents of Islamophobia, and this is the most violent manifestation to date.
"We expect the authorities to increase security outside mosques as a matter of urgency."

Many of the victims are believed to have just left evening prayers at the Muslim Welfare House after
breaking the Ramadan fast. It has appealed for calm, adding that "all of our efforts should be towards
getting justice for the victims and ensuring our community stays the diverse, tolerant and welcome
place we know it to be".

The prime minister will chair a meeting of the emergency Cobra committee later.
Mrs May described it as a "terrible incident", adding: "All my thoughts are with those who have been injured,
their loved ones and the emergency services on the scene."...'
SOURCE:

I must admit, I was dismayed at the BBC Journalist on the the television this morning.
During his reporting, he seemed to rejoice in the fact that the attacker was a white male!
Apparently white people cannot hold the Muslim faith.

[Daitengu]

Propaganda outlets gonna go into overdrive now in support of the damn goatshaggers .....  it already got the stench of fucking traitorous.... cowardly.... collaborator ...... conform or else fucking propaganda about it .....  

UK government would rather citizens be butchered by the damn muzzies instead of defending themselves or fighting back against the goatshagging..... murderous.... muzzies...... So be good little sheep shut the fuck up an wait silently to be slaughtered by the muzzies ......

[BIAD]

Propaganda outlets gonna go into overdrive now in support of the damn goatshaggers .....  it already got the stench of fucking traitorous.... cowardly.... collaborator ...... conform or else fucking propaganda about it .....  

UK government would rather citizens be butchered by the damn muzzies instead of defending themselves or fighting back against the goatshagging..... murderous.... muzzies...... So be good little sheep shut the fuck up an wait silently to be slaughtered by the muzzies ......

I'll be interested in how this statement is rolled back!

[BIAD]

From Wikipedia:
Finsbury Park Mosque.

'...Al Qaeda operatives including "shoebomber" Richard Reid and Zacarias Moussaoui attended the mosque.
In 2002, The Guardian reported that weapons training had taken place inside the building.

The mosque rose to notoriety after Abu Hamza al-Masri became Imam of the Mosque, due to his extremist
ideologies and views on terrorism. However, in 2003 the Mosque was raided by the Metropolitan Police and
shut down.

It was then reopened in February 2005 with a new board of trustees supported by the Muslim Association
of Britain (MAB), who were asked by the police to try to turn it around. Dr Azzam Tamimi, a leading member
of MAB, described it as "one of the very rare success stories where the Muslim community and others came
together and decided to rescue the mosque", although a minority complained of lack of consultation,
with Ashgar Bukhari of the campaign group Muslim Public Affairs Committee UK saying that the committee
should have been elected.

In 2014, HSBC bank closed Finsbury Park Mosque's bank account.
This was due to reported links to terrorism before 2005, based on information provided by the Thomson
Reuters news agency. However, the mosque then filed a legal case against Thomson Reuters and won in 2017,
with Reuters being required to issue an apology and pay damages.

According to classified American documents, released by Wikileaks, Finsbury Park mosque previously served
"as a haven" for Islamic extremists who subsequently fought against allied forces in Afghanistan...'

'...In 2003, over one hundred armed police raided the building as part of the investigation into the alleged Wood
Green ricin plot.
Abu Hamza al-Masri was eventually jailed for seven years in 2006 after being convicted of inciting murder and
race hate. Later, he was deported to the United States to face justice for terrorism charges after a ten-year battle
in the British courts based on his "indefinite leave to remain in the UK", which was granted to him by the previous
Conservative government. He was eventually sentenced to life in prison....'

[BIAD]

Update:

'...The man arrested on suspicion of carrying out a terror attack near a north London mosque is
Darren Osborne from Cardiff, the BBC understands.
The father-of-four was held after a van hit Muslims who had been attending evening prayers in
Finsbury Park.

They had been helping a man who had collapsed.
He later died but it is not clear if it was because of the attack.

Mr Osborne, 47, was held on suspicion of attempted murder and later further arrested over alleged
terror offences.
Police are carrying out searches at an address in the Cardiff area.

Security Minister Ben Wallace said the suspect was not known to the security services, and was
believed to have acted alone. The BBC understands Mr Osborne grew up in Weston-super-Mare,
Somerset.

Mr Osborne's family members gathered outside a house in the town, with his sister Nicola telling
the Press Association: "I am very sorry for what's happened".
The Metropolitan Police said he was being held on suspicion of the commission, preparation or
instigation of terrorism including murder and attempted murder...'
The BBC:

[Mystic Wanderer]

Update:

'...The man arrested on suspicion of carrying out a terror attack near a north London mosque is
Darren Osborne from Cardiff, the BBC understands.
The father-of-four was held after a van hit Muslims who had been attending evening prayers in
Finsbury Park.

They had been helping a man who had collapsed.
He later died but it is not clear if it was because of the attack.

Mr Osborne, 47, was held on suspicion of attempted murder and later further arrested over alleged
terror offences.
Police are carrying out searches at an address in the Cardiff area.

Security Minister Ben Wallace said the suspect was not known to the security services, and was
believed to have acted alone. The BBC understands Mr Osborne grew up in Weston-super-Mare,
Somerset.

Mr Osborne's family members gathered outside a house in the town, with his sister Nicola telling
the Press Association: "I am very sorry for what's happened".
The Metropolitan Police said he was being held on suspicion of the commission, preparation or
instigation of terrorism including murder and attempted murder...'
The BBC:

Hmm...  I saw an article on Yahoo earlier that said the man who did the attack had died. 

Going back to find it, I see it has been removed.
Guess it was another one of those reporters who posted before getting all the facts.  Just like MSM, right?

[Daitengu]

They not gonna kill off the poor sod yet ..... first they gonna trump up all kinds of imaginary charges an have nice big show trial an media circus to appease the muzzies an muzzie sympathizers ...... an put fear of the state into anyone else who would dare to stand up an fight back ......

[guohua]

To be Honest, when I first read about this I was thinking of Sirhan Sirhan, the murderer of Bobby Kennedy in 1968.
He was clearing used as a tool through mind control, Sirhan Sirhan was probably set off my a word or phrase, whispered to him by the lady in the Poky - Dotted dress that was seen standing next to him but Disappeared from sight.

But I continued to read and learned this Murderer was screaming for them to kill him.
I don't know.
Could he have been programmed to commit the act and scream for them to kill him if caught? I think so yes.

But I also know that there are Some Very Unstable People Out There.

[BIAD]

...Guess it was another one of those reporters who posted before getting all the facts.  Just like MSM, right?

Yes, you should've seen the BBC Journalist reporting the incident at 7.00.am(UK)
He seemed jubilant that it was a 'white man' as if inferring all Muslims were black
or brown and the ideology was restricted to particular races!

I think one of the reasons for this is there's a narrative to be maintained regarding
Christianity and Islamic teachings being displayed in a certain manner.

I'm still trying to see what that manner actually is, but I think it's being viewed through
the lens of class. As in Christianity is middle-class, gentle and Caucasian , where as Muslims
are the poor, oppressed, religiously-violent working-class that others have to understand.

It's that Liberal pompousness of Millennials that presume certain people that they virtue-signal
to, should know their station in life and instead of feeling snobbish, they demand that others
show tolerance and sympathy.

It's not new.

[gordi]

Update:

'...The man arrested on suspicion of carrying out a terror attack near a north London mosque is
Darren Osborne from Cardiff, the BBC understands.
The father-of-four was held after a van hit Muslims who had been attending evening prayers in
Finsbury Park.

They had been helping a man who had collapsed.
He later died but it is not clear if it was because of the attack.

Mr Osborne, 47, was held on suspicion of attempted murder and later further arrested over alleged
terror offences.
Police are carrying out searches at an address in the Cardiff area.

Security Minister Ben Wallace said the suspect was not known to the security services, and was
believed to have acted alone. The BBC understands Mr Osborne grew up in Weston-super-Mare,
Somerset.

Mr Osborne's family members gathered outside a house in the town, with his sister Nicola telling
the Press Association: "I am very sorry for what's happened".
The Metropolitan Police said he was being held on suspicion of the commission, preparation or
instigation of terrorism including murder and attempted murder...'
The BBC:

Acting alone???
Didn't they report this morning that there were 3 people IN THE VAN????

Sounds legit anyway...."Kill Me Kill Me... I want to Kill All Muslims...."
uh huh.... okaaay then.... that'll work... yeah.

Nothing to see here.
:P

[BIAD]

I agree Gordi, something about this doesn't quite fit.

By the way, I find it odd that the parading of phone-footage on news-outlets of Osborne being held
by the Mosque visitors and and then him being bundled into the back of the Police van is not being
spoken about.

It's now coming to light that the man who died was enduring a hear-attack before the van came
around the corner and mounted the kerb.
'...The man who died had already been receiving first aid from a member of the public, police said...'
SOURCE:

'...A man died on the scene but was already receiving first aid from members of the public when
the attack took place, police said. It is not yet known whether his death was a result of the attack...'
SOURCE:

'...Police said the attack happened while a man, who later died, was receiving first aid after being taken ill.
The force has not made it clear whether there is any link between his death and the attack...'
SOURCE:

There's also the reporting of this...

The footage shows people screaming expletives and "killer" repeatedly at the man as he is held down,
his face pushed against the pavement, his hair being pulled. "Pull his head up, pull his head up," one man
yells. "He's a killer... he killed a lot of people."

Someone else is heard yelling: "Take a picture of his face... ****ing racist ****."
SOURCE:

Hardly a prudent act by the so-called responsible media of keeping the current social unrest at bay!
Without resorting to saying a narrative of creating a victim situation for the Muslim community is quite
obvious here, the manner the incident is being treated by the media certainly hints of it.

Remember, it was a truck in Nice, France that killed the pedestrians and not the driver or his ideology.
But here, we have a white man who is said to have hated Muslims because... why? He was white?!

Also, the general impression is that this incident occurred around Finsbury Park Mosque and a building
known as 'The Muslim Welfare House' It didn't... and the true location is shown on a photograph
further below.

Sky News reported on Tuesday...

'Osborne was born in Singapore but grew up in Weston-super-Mare, Somerset, where he attended
Broadoak Mathematics and Computing College.

He moved to Cardiff with his partner, who works as a pub chef, and their four children, aged between
five and 16. The couple are said to have split, with Osborne reported to have been an unemployed
former barman who was recently living in a tent in woodland...'

So he was living rough and had no home. We don't know when the couple parted, but it's reported that
it was recent and he was basically a transient presumably without access to the welfare that others
can utilise. No electricity and ergo, no television.

'...His mother Christine, 72, said she was living "every mother's worst nightmare" and screamed
when she saw her son on TV. She told The Sun: "My son is no terrorist - he's just a man with problems
and I don't know how to cope with all this.

"He's never spoken to me about terror attacks or talked about 'bloody Muslims' - never in a million years
and that's the truth...'
SOURCE:

The use of the words 'bloody Muslims' would indicate his mother had more of a problem with racial
diversity than her son and her dislike is emphasised by reinforcing her statement by saying 'and that's
the truth'
Using terms like 'to be honest' and 'I won't lie to you' is said to be indicative of someone masking a belief.

'...Police have been searching a residential address in Pentwyn, a suburb to the northeast of Cardiff,
where Osborne has been listed as living.

His neighbour Khadijeh Sherizi said she could not believe Mr Osborne was being investigated for carrying
out an attack on Muslim worshippers. "He has been so normal," she said. "He was in his kitchen yesterday
afternoon singing with his kids.

"He was the dad of the family. He has kids. He lives next door. He seemed polite and pleasant to me.
"I just can't believe it."...'
SOURCE:

I actually saw the television interview with the neighbour of the suspect Darren Osborne. Mrs/Ms. Sherizi
was dressed in a full hijab and the niqab veil and reported the above on Monday. Mrs/Ms.Sherizi implied
there was no animosity between them and that the suspect had assisted in a chore for the lady on the day
before the attack.

One can assume Osborne was visiting his children as many men who are separated from their family do on
a weekend and even though we are also told he was sleeping rough in woodland, the Police have searched
this house of his former partner for possible clues to why the suspect committed the offence.

However, to counter this appearance of a mild-mannered man who held no grudges for religious doctrines,
The Guardian reports:
'...On Monday neighbours in Pentwyn, where Osborne had lived for several years, described him
as “aggressive” and “strange”. They said that over the weekend he told a 10-year old Muslim
neighbour he was an “inbred” and had been thrown out of a local pub for getting drunk “cursing
Muslims and saying he would do some damage”...'
SOURCE:
Which offers an alternative view of Osborne's mental state, but doesn't cite sources.

As it stands at this moment, it seems the unemployed suspect finished visiting his family, presumably took the
van he had enough money to hire and fill with fuel, then drove to London from Cardiff (nearly 160 miles and takes
almost three hours via the M4 motorway)



For unknown reasons at this point, Osborne drove up Seven Sisters Road twenty minutes after midnight in the
early hours of Monday with the intention of running down a group of Muslims leaving their Mosque and/or
Community Hall -and as misfortune would have it, treating a man dealing with an heart attack in a side-street.

Notice that he drove towards the Mosque and not from it.... and the cost of rental for the vehicle he allegedly
hired is (without a tail-lift)...

For Four Hours = excluding Value Added Tax £41.67 ($52.90) or with Value Added Tax £50.00 ($63.48).
For One Day = excluding Value Added Tax £66.67 ($84.64) or with Value Added Tax £80.00 ($101.56).
For One Week = excluding Value Added Tax £291.67 ($370.28) or with Value Added Tax £350.00 ($444.33).

SOURCE:

Random...? What do you think?

[Daitengu]

As I said before .... they gonna hold kangaroo court an media circus to make example of him to keep rest of the sheep docile for the slaughter .... far to convenient in timing among other things that stink about the whole damn thing .....

[gordi]

Random...? What do you think?

I think that you make a lot of very good points Phil, and you make them well.

If the white van man was unemployed and homeless... where did he get the money to hire & fuel the van from?
If it was his intention to deliberately attack Muslim people leaving their Mosque... why take the time, trouble and expense to drive to London? There are seventeen (17) Mosques in his hometown of Cardiff!!
It's possible that he was driving deliberately towards that particular Mosque and then saw the group of Muslim men... but.... why??

The narrative about him being anti-Muslim just doesn't fit with his Muslim neighbour saying that he was normal, pleasant, polite and helpful with chores etc

I don't know why he ran into those people, but the media are certainly spinning it in a certain direction. No question.

You have to feel for the poor guy who had a heart attack.
First that... then being treated and helped... then the van mows into them?
Reminded me of the "Final Destination" movies - when your time's up.... your time's up.

G

[BIAD]

I think that you make a lot of very good points Phil, and you make them well.

If the white van man was unemployed and homeless... where did he get the money to hire & fuel the van from?
If it was his intention to deliberately attack Muslim people leaving their Mosque... why take the time, trouble and
expense to drive to London? There are seventeen (17) Mosques in his hometown of Cardiff!!

G.

I added something after Daitengu's and your responses, so if I may, I'll put the here too.
It's the cost of hiring that particular van from that company and the link is in the original
posting.

For Four Hours = excluding Value Added Tax £41.67 ($52.90) or with Value Added Tax £50.00 ($63.48).
For One Day = excluding Value Added Tax £66.67 ($84.64) or with Value Added Tax £80.00 ($101.56).
For One Week = excluding Value Added Tax £291.67 ($370.28) or with Value Added Tax £350.00 ($444.33).

[gordi]

I think that you make a lot of very good points Phil, and you make them well.

If the white van man was unemployed and homeless... where did he get the money to hire & fuel the van from?
If it was his intention to deliberately attack Muslim people leaving their Mosque... why take the time, trouble and
expense to drive to London? There are seventeen (17) Mosques in his hometown of Cardiff!!

G.

I added something after Daitengu's and your responses, so if I may, I'll put the here too.
It's the cost of hiring that particular van from that company and the link is in the original
posting.

For Four Hours = excluding Value Added Tax £41.67 ($52.90) or with Value Added Tax £50.00 ($63.48).
For One Day = excluding Value Added Tax £66.67 ($84.64) or with Value Added Tax £80.00 ($101.56).
For One Week = excluding Value Added Tax £291.67 ($370.28) or with Value Added Tax £350.00 ($444.33).

Yup.
And he's never going to drive to London and Back in 4 hours... plus the late hour of the attack would suggest that he was keeping the van for at least 24 hours... It's a lot of money for an unemployed homeless dad to find?
very strange, maybe he was doing a bit of casual work?? Man & a Van type of thing?
G

[BIAD]

As I said before .... they gonna hold kangaroo court an media circus to make example of him to
keep rest of the sheep docile for the slaughter .... far to convenient in timing among other things
that stink about the whole damn thing .....

Oh I agree Dait. Ignoring the initial claims from the worshippers that Osbourne had killed many
people -which can be seen as understandable if one glanced at all the bodies laid around, the
manner that the footage showed men shouting at the closed Police van door 'Why...? Why did
you do this?" comes off as a bit hokey!

One wonders why the people surrounding Osbourne were calling for him to have his head held up...
to take photographs or for a more sinister purpose?

[BIAD]

Yup.
And he's never going to drive to London and Back in 4 hours... plus the late hour of the attack would
suggest that he was keeping the van for at least 24 hours... It's a lot of money for an unemployed homeless dad to find?
very strange, maybe he was doing a bit of casual work?? Man & a Van type of thing?
G

I agree with this too, G.

The timing, the reasons that you stated about why not just do this in his local town... make commonsense.
If Osbourne was doing casual work and the cost of hiring came from his own pocket or someone else, it
means that the opportunity to commit this act would rationally be seen as unplanned.

The whole incident would be predicated on having the transport and one can guess that an unemployed
man living in a tent would have to have a good reason to 'just' hire a van. One cannot exist without the
other, so it would seem it was a random opportunity in this scenario.

Edit: This also implies that his goal was either a totally 'out-of-the-blue' act with possible premeditated
thoughts -but based on an opportunity to travel due to variables that were out of his control.
Or...
He made a decision based on acquired facts of the location he deemed favourable to his goal and
accumulated the money to hire the van without thinking the money could be better invested in his
family.

Accepting this 'destiny', he spent time on collecting the money without making those around him suspicious
and having the access to the media which was reporting a type of 'religious war' going on, he came to the
conclusion that London was the preferred area to vent his anger.

A bit much, don't you think?!!

[BIAD]

It's always difficult attempting to seek the truth of a story when dealing with possible private agendas
of witness testimony and liberal Journalism to boost sales. Here in today's (Tuesday) Daily Telegraph,
is a selection of comments regarding the suspect Darren Osbourne.

'...Meanwhile, Osborne's sister Nicola denied that her brother is political.
“He wouldn’t even know who the Prime Minister is," she said. "I’ve never heard him say anything
about Muslims or anything racist."...'

A strange comment that may offer a biased opinion from a family member, but to counter this quote,
The Telegraph reports:

'...It came amid claims Osborne had allegedly hurled insults at his Asian neighbour's 12-year-old son
in the wake of the Islamist attack in the capital earlier this month...'

If we assume the neighbour is the same lady who lives next-door to his children's house (and not
someone living near his tent in the woodland)... then her comment to the Sky News Journalist seems at
odds to what this article reported.

'...His neighbour Khadijeh Sherizi said she could not believe Mr Osborne was being investigated for carrying
out an attack on Muslim worshippers. "He has been so normal," she said. "He was in his kitchen yesterday
afternoon singing with his kids.

"He was the dad of the family. He has kids. He lives next door. He seemed polite and pleasant to me.
"I just can't believe it."...'

Again, we have no idea of what narrative The Telegraph may have or not, but the statements reported
don't offer the notion of an 'ideal' family man. There's a view available that underneath Osborne's out-going,
easy-going attitude, a seething anger bubbled.
Surely a loved-one or close friend would mention this?

'...When the police eventually arrived, Osborne smiled, waved and blew kisses, apparently taunting
witnesses as he was bundled into the back of a van. He was recognised on television by stunned Welsh
neighbours more used to seeing him on the school run, who rang the police to identify him...'

The school run tends to hint that he owned a vehicle and further down the web-page, it's stated:
'..."He drove around in an old car that was always damaged. He never caused us any real problems,
but we could often hear him shouting from the other side of the street...'

Tarrying on the vehicle situation and keep in-mind that this man is unemployed and perceived as:
'...They later described him as "shouty" and "aggressive" but said they were gobsmacked to learn that
he was a terror suspect...' One would think that if he was just someone picking up odd-jobs here and
there, he could technically -using any welfare payments as well, afford to maintain a car.

We must assume that living in a tent was a choice of his own and this lends credibility to a strange
perception of life. After all, surely the Welfare services would assist in finding and paying for lodgings
for Mr. Osbourne.
Maybe it was his view that he was living rough and with the reports of rehousing recent victims of the
Grenfell Tower fire, Osbourne saw an unfairness and this manifested into a hatred?
.........................

Osborne's 72 year-old mother:
'...She claimed he was "disturbed" and had been on medication for mental health problems.
She said she had recognised him straightaway in television reports, describing it as "every mother's
worst nightmare".
“My son is no terrorist — he’s just a man with problems and I don’t know how to cope with all this",
she told The Sun...'

Well that's it then, a fruitcake that missed his meds. The comment leans towards a confused left-behind
loser that stews in his own problems. Racial hatred or just jealous of others receiving help?
I have no narrative.

More:
'...Neighbours described Mrs Osborne as "long-suffering”. One said: "Christine is a great grandmother
-Darren's nephew stays a lot.
"Darren's not had a bad life. He's had quite a privileged life. He's had more options than a lot of people."
His former drinking partners described him as a "loveable mentalist"...'

One could suggest that Darren Osbourne grew up in a place where he resisted changes in community
life in favour of quietly remaining in a world of his youth, where he felt more in control. There's a strong
implication that he was a strong imbiber of alcohol and in Britain, social drinking amongst men is often
seen as a forum where points of view -political or not, can be aired.

The word 'Mentalist' in Britain is sometimes used informally as someone who is an eccentric or mad
person. But since the days of the American television series of the same name, that title may have changed.
.........................

A complex family life.

'...Osborne left Weston-Super-Mare several years ago and moved to a terraced house in Pentwyn, Cardiff
with his partner, children and two dogs. The couple have four children, aged between 16 and five and Osborne
is said to help with the daily school run.

A complicated picture emerged of his personal life, with neighbours describing him as a  "family man" who
was heard singing in his kitchen with his children on Sunday afternoon, just hours before he is alleged to have
driven to London...'

Was he a drunkard who sang because of his alcoholic euphoria or just a man fairly happy with his lot considering
his faults? One can assume his partner never saw any problems with his visits and singing accompanied b his
children.

We also learn that he was at his partner's home on the Sunday afternoon and later in the article, it reports that:
'...is believed to have driven 15 miles from his home in the Welsh capital to Pontyclun Van Hire on Sunday,
hiring an £80-a-night Luton van...'

Well, apart from the comment that Osborne left his 'home' and if you recall, Sky News reported '...The couple are said
to have split, with Osborne reported to have been an unemployed former barman who was recently living in a tent
in woodland...' Then we can possibly accept that after visiting his children on the Sunday afternoon, he took his
bashed-up car and nursing his secret plan, drove fifteen miles west of his town to the Van Hire compound and splashed
out eighty quid that he could ill-afford.

Why not hire a vehicle from the four van-hire establishments close to his area or certainly the several around Cardiff?
Why add the extra mileage to the Van-Hire compound and then have to return eastwards to get to London? 
Considering the assumed time-restraints from leaving his singing children and arriving at the group of Muslims in a
side-street just after midnight, Osbourne was cutting it tight.

In my view, there was no plan in the context of this incident being fully mapped-out. I suggest Darren Osborne drove
to London to increase his chances of notoriety and coming across a group of people in a side-street at such a late
hour was -to some extent, chance.

If Osbourne saw his life as 'small' with all of his self-induced failings and in a community where those he grew up with
adjusted to the changes of lost industries and negative economic developments, he may have viewed himself as
worthless.

Possibly believing through the bottom of a beer glass that he would make those same people see him as 'someone',
he set off to London to make a name for himself by causing injuries and fatalities in a climate of fear and anger.
But why such a big vehicle...? Where did he get the money from...?

And one for Gordi, How much would it cost to run, maintain and fuel a car?
(I don't drive and haven't asked my wife how much it costs for her vehicle!)

Edit: My wife has just suggested that the possible reason for the size of the rental truck is -as Gordi hinted at,
was he delivering something somewhere and basically a odd-job man?