Elderly Christian woman travels 10 miles on mobility scooter to apologize for Finsbury mosque attack

Jardine Malado Friday, June 23, 2017

Police officers attend to the scene after a vehicle collided with pedestrians in the Finsbury Park neighborhood of North London, Britain June 19, 2017. | REUTERS/Neil Hall

An elderly Christian woman traveled 10 miles from Ilford, east London to Finsbury Park on her mobility scooter to apologize to an imam for the mosque attack carried out by a 48-year-old man on Monday.

According to Russia Today (RT), the pensioner, Julie Simpson, traveled to Finsbury Park to meet with the mosque's imam, Mohammed Mahmoud, who has been praised as a hero for protecting the suspected attacker from an angry mob.

"I came here because people who have done this are not English. They are not Christian... they are animals, they are pigs," Simpson told RT.

The attacker, identified as Darren Osborne, drove a vehicle into a crowd outside the mosque around 12:15 a.m. on Monday, killing one person and injuring 10 others.

Witnesses said that Osborne repeatedly shouted, "I'm going to kill all Muslims," before he was arrested by the police.

Simpson repeatedly apologized to Mahmoud and handed over an envelope of money for the families of the victims. "I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry for this, I am," she told the imam.

"It rips my heart out. It literally rips my heart out. I came all the way from Ilford, just to see you, to say I am so, so sorry. I was crying, I was crying all the time, I thought to myself: What could I do? I can't do nothing." she added.

Mahmoud told Simpson that she does not need to apologize for the attacker as he does not represent Christians and British people, adding that the Islamic State terror group, likewise, does not represent Muslims.

Osborne, a father of four, has reportedly been described by relatives as a "complex" and "troubled" individual.

The suspect's 72-year-old mother, Christine Osborne, said that she cannot defend her son's actions, but she insisted that he was not a terrorist and had not previously shown any hatred toward Muslims.

Osborne's sister, Nicola, further stated that the suspect was suicidal and tried to kill himself a few weeks ago by jumping into a river in Cardiff.

The Evening Standard reported that Osborne shouted "kill me, kill me," while he was pinned down by onlookers after he carried out the attack outside the mosque.

Osborne, whose children are aged between 5 and 16, reportedly separated from his partner recently. Neighbors stated that he was often seen on the street shouting at his partner.