He thanked Islam for knife acquittal

MASOOD once claimed his acquittal for an attempted murder was an Islamic miracle, the inquest heard.

Fourteen years before the Westminster attack, he stabbed Daniel Smith in the face. The carving knife passed through Mr Smith’s nose and into his mouth. Masood was charged with attempted murder over the attack in 2003 – but acquitted after he claimed it was selfdefence. He was jailed for six months for carrying a knife.

Masood later said the acquittal was proof of the ‘truth of Islam’. He also claimed that the recovery of his daughter, left in a coma after being hit by a bus in 200 , was another miracle. He grew up in Tunbridge Wells. He later became a violent drunk who mixed in a ‘dangerous underworld’ of drug dealing and intimidation.

Masood was also a violent husband. His first wife divorced him because of abuse and an ex-girlfriend called him ‘vile’.