A prisoner who tackled the Fishmongers’ Hall attacker has been told he can be freed from jail. Steven Gallant was one of the three men who restrained Usman Khan during the terror attack in November 2019, in which he killed two people. Gallant had initially hit Khan with a narwhal tusk but then was left unarmed. He later told an inquest into the deaths of Jack Merritt, 25, and Saskia Jones, 23, that he had given Khan “a couple of uppercuts to the face” to stun him when he tried to get up. Khan killed the Cambridge graduates, who were working at the university’s Learning Together event, and injured three other people before running on to London Bridge. He was armed with two large knives and a fake suicide belt. After being stopped he was shot by police. A spokesperson for the Parole Board said: “We can confirm that a panel of the Parole Board has directed the release of Steven Gallant following an oral hearing. Parole Board decisions are solely focused on what risk a prisoner could represent to the public if released and whether that risk is manageable in the community. “A panel will carefully examine a huge range of evidence, including details of the original crime, and any evidence of behaviour change, as well as explore the harm done and impact the crime has had on the victims.” The decision on release is provisional for 21 days and could be appealed against by the justice secretary, Robert Buckland. Gallant was jailed for life in 2005, with a minimum term of 17 years, for the murder of a firefighter in Hull. He had been on day release at the event for reformed prisoners in Fishmongers’ Hall when he helped end Khan’s rampage. As a result of his actions during the attack, the Queen cut his sentence by 10 months. The Ministry of Justice revealed in October that the monarch had employed the little-used “royal prerogative of mercy” to bring Gallant’s case before the Parole Board 10 months early. In a summary of its decision, the Parole Board said the panel recognised his intervention, but added it was not a reason to clear him for release. The board said professional witnesses had recommended Gallant be released on licence, telling the panel he had “worked hard to understand and address his risk factors and to bring about a change to his life”. Of its decision, the board said: “After considering the circumstances of his index offending, his pattern of previous offending, the progress made while in custody, the details of the release plan and all the evidence presented at the hearing, the panel was satisfied that Gallant was suitable for release.” Conditions of his release on licence would include a curfew, staying at a designated address and to comply with an exclusion zone to avoid contact with his victim’s family.