London Underground attacker sentenced to life

LONDON – An Islamic State-inspired taxi driver who tried to behead a London Underground passenger has been sent to a high-security mental hospital to begin a life sentence.

Somali-born Muhiddin Mire targeted strangers at random in the ticket hall at Leytonstone Underground station in London on Dec. 5 last year.

The 30-year-old was sentenced Monday at Central London Criminal Court. His attack went viral after a passer-by filmed the incident on his mobile phone whilst shouting out to Mire: “You ain’t no Muslim, bruv.” The colloquial remark using the local slang term for brother came to symbolize the defiant attitude of Londoners towards attacks.

The judge ruled that Mire had been motivated by events in Syria, even though he was diagnosed as having paranoid schizophrenia at the time of the offence.