British police name third London Bridge attacker as Youssef Zaghba

The third London Bridge attacker has been named as Youssef Zaghba, a 22-year-old son of an Italian mother and Moroccan father.

Police confirmed his identity after it was first reported in Italy. He was believed to be living in east London and is described as an Italian national of Moroccan descent.

Police said Zaghba had not been a subject of interest for them or for the MI5 domestic intelligence agency.

Earlier, Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera had reported that Zaghba had been stopped at an Italian airport because authorities believed he was on his way to Syria, and that Italian officials had warned British counterparts about him.

Scotland Yard said in a statement: “The Met’s counter-terrorism command has released the name and photograph of the third attacker shot dead by police following the terrorist attacks on London Bridge and at Borough Market on Saturday.

“While formal identification is yet to take place, detectives believe he is 22-year-old Youssef Zaghba, from east London. The deceased’s family have been informed. He is believed to be an Italian national of Moroccan descent. He was not a police or MI5 subject of interest.”

In Britain's third Islamist attack in as many months, the three men rammed a van into pedestrians on London Bridge on Saturday evening before running into the bustling Borough Market area, where they slit throats and stabbed people.

Police had named the other two attackers as Khuram Butt, 27, a British national born in Pakistan, and Rachid Redouane, 30, who had claimed to be Moroccan and Libyan. Butt was previously known to security agencies and had appeared in a British TV documentary called "The Jihadis Next Door".

The identification of the third attacker came as detectives arrested a man at an address in Barking on Tuesday morning. The 27-year old was arrested under the Terrorism Act just after 8am. A search warrant is also being executed at an address in Barking.

The fallout from the attack eclipsed all other subjects in the political campaign ahead of Thursday's general election, with both the ruling Conservatives and opposition Labour Party battling to defend their records on security.

As these details have emerged, Prime Minister Theresa May has faced questions about her record overseeing cuts to police numbers when she was interior minister.

The latest opinion poll on voting intentions, by Survation for ITV, had the Conservatives' lead over Labour narrowing to just one point from six points in the same poll a week earlier.

However, the consensus among pollsters remains that May's party, who have been in government since 2010, will win a majority.