Stratford woman named as second victim of London Bridge attack

The Metropolitan Police announced this afternoon (Sunday) that the second victim of Friday's attack was Saskia Jones, 23, from Stratford.

Saskia's family issued a statement via the police.

The statement said: “Saskia was a funny, kind, positive influence at the centre of many people’s lives. She had a wonderful sense of mischievous fun and was generous to the point of always wanting to see the best in all people.

“She was intent on living life to the full and had a wonderful thirst for knowledge, enabling her to be the best she could be.

“Saskia had a great passion for providing invaluable support to victims of criminal injustice, which led her to the point of recently applying for the police graduate recruitment programme, wishing to specialise in victim support.

“This is an extremely painful time for the family. Saskia will leave a huge void in our lives and we would request that our privacy is fully respected.”

A man who also died on Friday has been named as Jack Merritt, 25, of Cottenham, Cambridgeshire.

Both Saskia and Jack were graduates of the University of Cambridge and were involved in the Learning Together programme – Jack as a co-ordinator and Saskia as a volunteer.

In a statement released through the police, Jack's family said: “Jack Merritt, our beautiful, talented boy, died doing what he loved, surrounded by people he loved and who loved him. He lit up our lives and the lives of his many friends and colleagues, and we will miss him terribly.

“Jack lived his principles; he believed in redemption and rehabilitation, not revenge, and he always took the side of the underdog. Jack was an intelligent, thoughtful and empathetic person who was looking forward to building a future with his girlfriend, Leanne, and making a career helping people in the criminal justice system. We know Jack would not want this terrible, isolated incident to be used as a pretext by the government for introducing even more draconian sentences on prisoners, or for detaining people in prison for longer than necessary.

“Our thoughts go out to the relatives and friends of his friend and colleague who died with him in this incident, to the colleagues who were injured, and to his brilliant, supportive colleagues at the University of Cambridge Department of Criminology.

“We respectfully request that the media leave us to grieve in private at this very difficult time.”

One of the three further people injured in the London Bridge incident has now been able to return home. Two people remain in a stable condition and continue to receive expert care in hospital.