Dad of 7/7 bombing victim urges Londoners to be defiant in face of terrorism and ‘carry on as normal’
THE father of a young man killed in 7/7, one of the worst terror attacks to hit London in almost 30 years, admitted he is still angry over the horror that took his son.
Sean Cassidy lost his son, Ciaran, 22, in the bombings that ripped through tube stations in 2005, saying he now wanted stricter travel bans to come into force to halt terror attacks.
Speaking in the aftermath of the Westminster terror attack, the bereaved 69-year-old said: "I still feel angry about what happened to my son, I think about him every day.
"But I also feel angry about what is going on today and what has happened since."
He added that he was worried that London had become even more dangerous in the past decade, with concerns that simple, disruptive attacks were easy to carry out.
He pointed out that while his son had died after a bomb was planted, terrorists could often cause huge chaos with just a knife.
Sean said: "So many attacks have happened since, I have almost become immune to it.
"It just doesn't surprise me now. It seems to be an ongoing thing, I don't see an end.
"I think it's just going to have to be something we live with."
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But the retired Royal Mail worker said he wanted to see more done to try to stem the tide of terror attacks on British soil.
He said: "We need to make sure people coming back from Syria are not allowed back into the country, void their passports or whatever."
Yet while still struggling with his grief and anger, Sean said that he wanted British life to continue as normal.
He said: "It's letting them win to allow them to disrupt you.
"We've got to carry on as normal."
Four people were killed and dozens were injured when the suspected terrorist drove through pedestrians on Westminster Bridge.
PC Keith Palmer, 48, was stabbed to death before his attacker was fatally gunned down.
Kurt Cochran was named as one of the victims tragically killed, with mum-of-two Aysha Frade also named as a victim who did not survive the attack.
The knifeman ploughed into pedestrians on the pavement of Westminster Bridge, killing three members of the public, before running through the Parliament railings and attacking the unarmed cop.