Melton's woman's '˜incredibly lucky' escape from the London Bridge terrorists

A former Melton school pupil narrowly escaped being one of the victims of Saturday night's terrorist attack which left seven people dead and 48 injured.
By The Newsroom
Published 5th Jun 2017, 10:34 BST
Updated 8th Jun 2017, 15:29 BST
Melton woman Holly Jones, who narrowly escaped being a victim of the three terrorists who attacked people on London Bridge and in Borough Market EMN-170506-092953001Melton woman Holly Jones, who narrowly escaped being a victim of the three terrorists who attacked people on London Bridge and in Borough Market EMN-170506-092953001
Melton woman Holly Jones, who narrowly escaped being a victim of the three terrorists who attacked people on London Bridge and in Borough Market EMN-170506-092953001

Holly Jones, who attended King Edward VII School, says she looked into the eyes of the terrorist on London Bridge seconds before he drove a van at speed close to her and then ploughed into pedestrians.

As she comforted a French woman who was hit by the vehicle, the driver and two accomplices then made off on foot in the direction of Borough Market and began stabbing people at random with knives.

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Holly, who works for the BBC as a broadcast journalist, had been walking across the bridge to meet friends for a drink when the terrifying incident unfolded.

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She recalled: “The van was zig-zagging along the pavement and it looked like he was aiming at groups of people.

“He hit two people who were five metres in front of me and swerved back round again.

“I don’t know how I got out of the way, whether I jumped or ran.

“I saw the driver and it was definitely intentional.

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“He didn’t look scared, he just looked focused and, I would say, demented.”

Holly, who used to work as a lunchtime supervisor and receptionist at John Ferneley College in Melton, then saw the vehicle hit a couple near her.

“I just remember thinking ‘that was so close to me’ and there were screams like a shrill,” she recalled.

“I’ve never heard a kind of fear like it but even so I just ran to one of the victims to comfort her.”

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The injured woman had been with her boyfriend at the time of the incident and there was a concern he had been knocked over the wall of the bridge into the Thames.

Holly was one of the first people to call the emergency services and she has been interviewed by police as a key witness.

Still clearly shaken by her experience, she added: “Several of the casualties on the bridge were in an indescribable state.

“You never think you are going to see something like that.

“I’m so incredibly lucky because that van was just a metre away from me.

“I will never take my life for granted again.”

Armed police shot dead the three terrorists within eight minutes of Holly first seeing the van.