A HERO who tackled the London Bridge terrorist with a fire extinguisher has revealed his desperate bid to disable the attacker’s “suicide vest”.
John Crilly, 48, chased Usman Khan after seeing his mentor and friend murdered, believing the killer was about to blow himself up and kill even more people.
Speaking to the Daily Mirror, Crilly recalled the frantic moments on Friday, November 29, after he rushed into action having seen his friend Jack Merritt stabbed in the chest at Fishmongers’ Hall.
John, a reformed ex-prisoner, had been battling Khan inside the building when he snatched the fire extinguisher.
He said: “At first, I thought throw that at him, then I thought I could spray it and soak the belt, maybe short-circuit the belt.
“I started spraying him and it seemed to do the job. I was spraying it in his eyes. He was all covered in foam and then he came bursting through it again with the knives.”
The fight then continued outside on London Bridge and brave Crilly recalled shouting “just shoot him”, fearing he was about to blow himself up and kill more innocent people.
Crilly was on parole following a manslaughter conviction and jail sentence but had been helped transform his life by Jack Merritt, who had been his prison mentor.
Afterwards, Crilly paid tribute to Jack — calling him “the best guy I ever met”.
Dramatic video showed John on the bridge spraying Khan with the extinguisher while another man tackled the fiend with a narwhal tusk and a third punched him to the ground.
Jack’s associates hailed John’s bravery as they commented on the footage, shared on social media.
Michelle Feather wrote: “I honestly think your friend would be proud of you John Crilly for your actions, so many people could have died if it wasn’t for your quick thinking!! Be proud of yourself.”
“You’re a brave man John massive hugs to you!!
“Would have you by my side any day you deserve a medal.”
Another friend Michelle Crosby wrote: “You’ve been through such a trauma, your response was heroic.
“I’m sure your friend would be proud of you. We all are! Such a sh*t world Crilly but you lot took it on n didn’t let him win.”
John and Jack were believed to have become friends when Cambridge University-based Learning Together began working with inmates at HMP Grendon, Bucks.
Jack was a course co-ordinator for the programme.
The pair had worked on his rehabilitation for months — with John crediting Jack for his new life away from drugs and crime.
John — who was released from a life sentence last year — got an Open University law degree while in jail and Jack attended his graduation ceremony this September.
Both men were at the Learning Together prisoner rehab conference in Fishmongers’ Hall at the north end of the bridge last Friday.
Lisa Ghiggini, administrator of Learning Together, added her praise saying: “Crilly is a hero.”
After the attack, in which 23-year-old Saskia Jones was also fatal stabbed, he posted an emotional message on his public Facebook page.
Crilly wrote: “I’m SO down with f****** sh*t up in JACK’S name!! RIP Jack. Love you! Missing you so much already!”
Misspelling Jack’s surname and other words, he added: “Why!? This guy, Jack Merrit, the best guy I ever met. Jack actually tried helping this guy! To educate him. As he educated me. Jack came all the way from Cambridge to be at my graduation in m/cr (Manchester).
“How proud am I to be called Jack Merrit’s friend.”
Crilly had been a heroin addict and a career criminal.
He was sentenced to life with a minimum of 20 years in 2005 after being convicted of robbery and the murder of a 71-year-old man in a violent burglary.
Another man killed the pensioner in the raid at a Manchester council flat, while Crilly stole a blender and a mobile phone.
But Crilly was jailed for murder under a controversial “joint- enterprise” conviction by Lord Brian Leveson — the same judge who freed terrorist Khan.
Joint enterprise is used to convict defendants in gang-related cases even if they did not strike the fatal blow, but could have foreseen violent acts by their associates.
The murder conviction was quashed by the Court of Appeal. John admitted manslaughter and was released after serving 13 years.
Speaking after his release, John said: “I want to start contributing to society. To be a better person. He added: “I wasn’t a violent drug addict. I was lost. I was lost in drugs.
“I had a bad life. I’ve changed it, but I wasn’t guilty of murder. I totally accept what I did and it was wrong. That’s important to me. I’m not a murderer.”
Crilly has blamed his “hundreds” of criminal convictions on drugs and said he was a heroin addict aged 15 and in and out of jail.
He served four years at HMP Grendon, the only therapeutic prison in the UK. Incredibly, while there he invited Sir Brian Leveson to visit him.
Sir Brian said: “I sentenced him after he was convicted by a jury for his part in a joint enterprise, single-punch murder of an elderly home owner during the course of a robbery in which he did not personally use the fatal (or any) force.
“At the time he was addicted to heroin. Perhaps understandably it has taken many years to come to terms with his guilt but Grendon has helped him do just that.
“Today, John seems to fully acknowledge responsibility for the death of another human being; he is clear of drugs and appears to be headed in the right direction.”
John, originally from Manchester, revealed on his Facebook page he moved to Cambridge, to live near Jack, in October.
Another former prisoner also turned hero last Friday. James Ford, 42 — who murdered disabled Amanda Champion, 21, in 2004 — stepped in to protect a woman after knife-wielding Khan began his rampage.
