Extremist dropped off authorities’ radar
As long as a decade ago, Khalid Masood’s “violent extremism” had caused security services sufficient alarm to put him under investigation.
But by the time Masood, 52, went on the rampage on Wednesday, driving a car at 80 km/h along Westminster Bridge in London, murdering three innocent pedestrians before plunging his knife repeatedly into a police officer guarding the Houses of Parliament, he had dropped off their radar. Masood, a father of three, was no longer considered a threat.
Prime Minister Theresa May was quick to absolve security services of blame.
“What I can confirm is that the man was British-born and that — some years ago — he was once investigated in relation to concerns about violent extremism. He was a peripheral figure.
“The case is historic — he was not part of the current intelligence picture. There was no prior intelligence of his intent or of the plot. Intensive investigations continue.”
Later, the Metropolitan Police detailed Masood’s long history of violent crime. But none, they stressed, for terrorism offences.
As the capital began returning to normal after Wednesday’s radical Islamist-inspired rampage, it emerged that Masood was finally stopped when he was shot dead by a cabinet minister’s bodyguard in the grounds of the Houses of Parliament.
The officer — understood to be the bodyguard of Sir Michael Fallon, the defence minister — ran toward the knife-wielding attacker and shot him three times in the chest from short range.
Sources told The Daily Telegraph that he was sitting in Fallon’s official car, which was parked near to where the attack took place, and was first to react when he saw Masood stab Const. Keith Palmer.
Fallon is thought to have been voting in the Commons chamber at the time.
A separate source said armed officers who were on duty at the Carriage Gates in New Palace Yard rushed towards the terrorist’s car, which had crashed into railings around the corner after mowing down pedestrians.
According to the source, that meant the nearest armed officer to the terrorist at the time he burst into New Palace Yard was the protection officer.
Masood was born on Christmas Day in 1964 in Kent but, crucially, had used a number of different aliases in the run-up to the attack. It is thought the terrorist changed his name to Masood, possibly after being radicalized.
The force was clear there had been “no prior intelligence” of Masood’s attack but admitted he had been “well known” to the police for a string of previous convictions.
Masood, a burly body-building enthusiast, received his first conviction in November 1983 for criminal damage when he was 18 and his last one in 2003 for possession of a knife. In a 20-year criminal career he also received convictions for causing grievous bodily harm, possession of offensive weapons and public order offences.
BRITISH-BORN ATTACKER HAD LONG RECORD, BUT NOT ON ANTI-TERROR FORCES’ RADAR
It is understood that Masood went to jail for his offences, where there is a good chance he was radicalized.
Over the past five or six years, Masood, his wife, aged 39, and their young children, have been on the move. Electoral roll records show him living in areas notorious for pockets of Islamist extremism.
He lived for more than two years until 2013 in Luton where Anjem Choudary, an influential preacher now in jail for terror offences, had been a regular and often mob-handed visitor.
A former neighbour in Luton, Katie Garriques, 48, a former headteacher, remembered a “polite, shy” and a “quite portly man”
YOU COULD TELL THEY WERE RELIGIOUS, HIS WIFE ALWAYS WORE TRADITIONAL DRESS.
whom she often saw gardening at the front of the property and playing with his children.
Monica, another neighbour in Luton, said she would only ever see him at night. “He was like a shadow, you wouldn’t often see him. He was often in Islamic dress, black clothes with a hat,” she said.
From Luton, Masood and his family moved to Forest Gate in east London.
In the past year, Masood and his family moved to Birmingham. The home was raided by anti-terror police following the attack.
Student Kaodi Campbell, 25, said, “He was always polite and would say ‘hello, hello’ to me.
“You could tell they were religious, his wife always wore traditional dress. I last saw them just over a month ago. They had three children.”
On Monday or Tuesday, Masood turned up at the car hire company Enterprise and rented the Hyundai SUV used in Wednesday’s attack.
He gave his profession as a teacher.
David Videcette, a former Scotland Yard counter-terrorism officer and security expert, said it was odd that Masood had committed the atrocity at the age of 52.
“His age is surprising as most terrorists are radicalized at a much younger age,” said Videcette.
“It would be my assessment that he has probably had quite a troubled past, with involvement in drink or drugs leading him into criminality.
“Then at some point, possibly in the last decade, he has converted to Islam and changed his name.
“Then it appears that he has fallen under the malign influence of others who have encouraged or persuaded him to carry out this attack, possibly for money for his family.”