I can’t believe I was married to someone so evil
»»Widow of terrorist says sorry to families »»Mum: He got angry ‘like the Incredible Hulk’
THE widow of the Westminster terrorist wept as she apologised to victims’ families, saying: “I can’t believe I was married to someone that evil.”
Rohey Hydara told an inquest she was sorry she had not been “more vigilant” before Khalid Masood, 58, killed four pedestrians and a policeman in a car-and-knife rampage.
She said: “I know it’s hard. It is for me every day. I cannot imagine what you guys are going through. I hope my being here will give you answers.
“I cannot believe I was married to someone that evil. I hope that you find closure at the end of all this and you move on and do not let him win.”
Mrs Hydara told the Old Bailey that the night before the attack she spoke to her “emotional” and “redfaced” husband on Facetime.
Next morning he texted her and the children: “I hope you guys are all okay I have been thinking about you lots, love daddy.” He then sent an emoji blowing a kiss.
Eight minutes before the attack, Mrs Hydara got another text containing a “jihadi” document with a picture of Masood in a white Islamic robe and the words: “Please forgive me and please pray for me.”
Seeing TV pictures of Masood lying shot after the attack, she phoned police saying: “I think my husband is involved.”
Ms Hydara said Masood, who had taken steroids before the killings, would lecture her about jihad in rages brought on by the drug.
RANT
The court heard one she recorded. The killer rants: “I never hear you say there’s any good in ISIS... at least they’re fighting against the Shia, they’re doing some good.”
Masood’s mother Janet Ajao said he issued a warning five days before the rampage but she didn’t act on it.
As he left after a visit to her home in Wales he told her: “They’ll say I’m a terrorist but I’m not.”
Mrs Ajao told the inquest: “I didn’t say anything because I had basically no idea what he was referring to.
“It sounds ridiculous now but at that time it just seemed ‘what is he talking about?’
“There’s no way I thought one of my children would commit this act. I’m utterly ashamed.”
She said her son was an angry person who once turned into the “Incredible Hulk” during a row over a chicken dinner.
He wrote emails accusing her of “never cuddling him as a child”.
Mrs Ajao said: “I spent a long time thinking ‘What have I done wrong?’”
As she left the witness box she turned to the families of her son’s victims and said: “I wish to offer you my really deepest sympathy and condolences. Thank you.”
Masood was shot dead after ramming his hired 4×4 into at least 35 people on Westminster Bridge before stabbing PC Keith Palmer, 48, to death. Londoners Aysha Frade, 43, and Leslie Rhodes, 75, died from injuries together with Romanian tourist Andreea Cristea, 31, and US visitor Kurt Cochran, 54.
The inquest, expected to last five weeks, will resume today.
■ TWO boys of 15 were yesterday arrested at their homes in Ramsgate, Kent, on suspicion of terror offences.