Hero porter who fought off London Bridge terror attacker Usman Khan with a ceremonial pike collects bravery award from Princess Anne at Windsor Castle
- Lukasz Koczocik fought against Khan despite being stabbed by him three times
A hero porter who fought off London Bridge terror attacker Usman Khan with a ceremonial pike has collected a bravery award from Princess Anne at Windsor Castle.
Lukasz Koczocik sprang into action when Khan killed a man and a woman at a prisoner rehabilitation event at Fishmongers’ Hall in 2019 – forcing him out of the venue.
Mr Koczocik grabbed a maritime ornament known as a boarding pike from the wall of the Grade II-listed building as he, along with three others, attempted to disarm Khan.
Despite being stabbed three times by Khan, Mr Koczocik fought back until others joined and the terrorist was forced out onto London Bridge – where he was shot dead by cops.
The ‘true hero’ today received the Queen’s Gallantry Medal at an investiture ceremony at Windsor Castle.
Mr Lukasz Koczocik is decorated with the Queen’s Gallantry Medal by the Princess Royal at Windsor Castle, Berkshire
Mr Koczocik sprang into action when Usman Khan (pictured) killed a man and a woman at a prisoner rehabilitation event at Fishmongers’ Hall in 2019 – forcing him out of the venue
The ‘true hero’ porter (pictured) today received the Queen’s Gallantry Medal at an investiture ceremony at Windsor Castle
Pictured is Mr Koczocik collecting the bravery award from Princess Anne at Windsor Castle today
Mr Koczocik photographed with his Queen’s Gallantry Medal today at Windsor Castle
The decoration is awarded for exemplary acts of bravery. The pair featured on this year’s Civilian Gallantry List – which was approved by the late Queen Elizabeth II a week before her death in September 2022.
It comes after Mr Koczocik received The Royal Humane Society’s Stanhope Gold Medal – its top award – last December.
Also set to be honoured for his role in confronting Khan is ex-prisoner John Crilly – who hosed the terrorist with a fire extinguisher after Mr Koczocik had used the pike to disarm him.
Khan fatally killed Cambridge graduates Jack Merritt, 25, and Saskia Jones, 23, on November 29, 2019, and injured several others.
The killer was let out halfway through a 16-year sentence on licence after pretending that he had been de-radicalised
READ MORE: ‘People can change’: Convicted killer who fought Fishmongers’ Hall terrorist with Narwhal tusk speaks for first time of the attack… and his ‘deep regret’ for murder that saw him locked up for life
The extremist, who wore a fake bomb vest, was tackled by men clutching chairs, a narwhal tusk and a fire extinguisher, and driven out onto London Bridge where he was shot dead by police.
An inquest into the deaths of Mr Merritt and Ms Jones in 2021 found they were ‘unlawfully killed’, identifying mistakes from police, MI5 and the probation service that let the fanatic kill.
Giving evidence at the time, Polish national Mr Koczocik said the best thing he could do was grab the pike.
‘The next thing I remember – me going back to the lobby area and being with this man (Khan) face to face,’ he said.
‘I decided he had to be hurt, because I realised what was happening. I tried to stab him.’
Mr Koczocik said Khan did not appear to be injured by the pike.
The porter said he then landed a strike on Khan’s stomach, at which point the terrorist grabbed the pike and stabbed Mr Koczocik in the hand and shoulder.
Mr Koczocik dropped the pike as Khan had ‘cut the tendon in my hands so I couldn’t grip it’.
It was at that point that ex-prisoner Mr Crilly hosed Khan with a fire extinguisher and communications manager Darryn Frost jabbed at Khan with a narwhal tusk, sending him off balance.
The group’s actions forced Khan out of the building. Then convicted murderer Steven Gallant tackled Khan to the ground, where all three restrained him until armed police arrived.
The honour he has received recognises his actions during the terrorist attack at the learning together event in Fishmongers’ Hall
Mr Koczocik after receiving the Queen’s Gallantry Medal at an investiture ceremony at Windsor Castle on September 26
Khan fatally killed Cambridge graduates Jack Merritt (left), 25, and Saskia Jones (right), 23, on November 29, 2019, and injured several others
Khan being confronted by Darryn Frost, Steve Gallant and John Crilly on London Bridge following the attack
Usman Khan at Bank station on his way to attend a prisoner rehabilitation event – where he would later murder a man and a woman
On the day of the attack, wearing a fake suicide belt and carrying a backpack containing the eventual murder weapons, Khan bounded over to his former prison counter-terrorism governor, offered him a hug, and declared: ‘I have learnt that violence isn’t the path.’
Khan became interested in the extremist views of prominent figures Anwar al-Awlaki and Anjem Choudary, head of the banned terror organisation al-Muhajiroun, as a teenager.
He later admitted planning a terror training camp to send anti-West fighters to the UK, and was handed an indeterminate sentence which was varied upon appeal to an extended sentence. As such, he was released without parole after eight years inside after convincing many he had changed his ways.
He even succeeded in duping Mr Merritt, a co-ordinator on the Learning Together prisoner education scheme, who insisted Khan had been ‘de-radicalised’ when a colleague raised concerns about possible terrorist imagery in a poem Khan wrote ahead of his release.
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