A man found guilty of trying to kill a group of cyclists and police officers outside the Houses of Parliament has been jailed for life. 

Salih Khater, 30, was sentenced to a minimum of 15 years imprisonment at the Old Bailey in London on Monday morning, after being found guilty of attempted murder on July 17. 

He drove into a pedestrian and a group of cyclists who had stopped at a red light in Parliament Square on August 14 last year, careering into a security lane and crashing into barriers as two police officers jumped out of the way.

During his trial, the court heard Khater, of Highgate Street, Birmingham, wanted to cause maximum carnage and it was “miraculous” that no-one was killed.

But Khater, who had recently failed his accountancy exams at the University of Coventry, claimed he came to London to find the Sudanese embassy to get a visa, “got lost” around Westminster and panicked.

The jury deliberated over two days before rejecting his explanation and finding him guilty of two charges of attempted murder.