TERRORIST’S MOTHER: I’VE SHED TEARS FOR VICTIMS
WESTMINSTER ATTACK LATEST:
THE mother of killer Khalid Masood told yesterday how she has wept “many tears” for the victims of the Westminster terror attack.
Speaking for the first time since the atrocity Janet Ajao said she is “so deeply shocked, saddened and numbed” by her son’s horrendous crimes.
“Since discovering that it was my son that was responsible, I have shed many tears for the people caught up in this horrendous incident,” she said in a statement.
“I wish to make it absolutely clear, so there can be no doubt, I do not condone his actions nor support the beliefs he held that led to him committing this atrocity.
“I wish to thank my friends, family and community from the bottom of my heart for the love and support given to us.”
Protection
Mrs Ajao, 69, lives in a remote cottage in Carmarthenshire and is believed to be under police protection. Neighbours know her as a “respectable, grey-haired lady”, who listens to classical music, keeps chickens and runs her own business selling hand-made cushions.
It is believed she had been estranged from her son, who was 52, for at least two decades.
Masood was born Adrian Elms in Kent but later changed his name to Adrian Ajao after his stepfather, Philip Ajao, who his mother married. He is now 77 and seriously ill in hospital. His stepson later changed his name again to Khalid Masood.
Mrs Ajao released her statement as police revealed they have found no links between killer Masood and Islamic State or Al Qaeda.
The Muslim convert was not radicalised in jail but did have a clear interest in waging Jihad, a senior counter-terror officer said.
Scotland Yard made a fresh appeal for anyone who was contacted by Masood last Wednesday to talk to detectives. It came as Home Secretary Amber Rudd geared up for a row with internet companies over coded messaging services. Masood used encrypted WhatsApp moments before he murdered four people and injured more than 50 at Westminster.
Ms Rudd will meet representatives of technology companies on Thursday. Deputy Assistant Commissioner Neil Basu said: “There has been much speculation about who Masood was in contact with immediately prior to the attack.
“All I will say on this point is that Masood’s communications that day are a main line of inquiry. If you heard from him on March 22, please come forward now. The information you have may prove important to establishing his state of mind.
“His attack method appears to be based on low sophistication, low tech, low cost techniques copied from other attacks, and echo the rhetoric of IS leaders in terms of methodology and attacking police and civilians. I have no evidence he discussed this with others.”
He added: “There is no evidence Masood was radicalised in prison in 2003. Whilst I’ve found no evidence of an association with IS or AQ, there is clearly an interest in Jihad.
“I know when, where and how Masood committed his atrocities but I need to know why. Most importantly, so do the victims and families.” The killer murdered motherof-two Aysha Frade, 43, US tourist Kurt Cochran, 54, and retired window cleaner Leslie Rhodes, 75, as he mowed down pedestrians in a car on Westminster Bridge.
He then ran into the precincts of Parliament and stabbed PC Keith Palmer, 48, to death. Masood was shot dead moments later by police.
A Just Giving fund set up in PC Palmer’s memory is at £730,000.
Two men from Birmingham are being questioned over their alleged links to Masood. They are among 12 people arrested since the attack. A woman from Manchester was bailed and nine face no further action.