‘Lovely, polite’ boy who became twisted jihadi

CHILDHOOD pictures of terrorist Sudesh Amman show him messing around with a vacuum cleaner and pulling faces for the camera, just like any normal youngster.

But the “lovely” and “polite” little boy grew into a dangerous young man, who dreamed of becoming a martyr and going to paradise in a list of jihadi “life goals” he had written.

His mum Haleema Khan yesterday insisted Amman, 20, had seemed “normal” when she took him his favourite homecooked mutton biryani days before the attack.

She said her son had changed during his time in HMP Belmarsh, where he served half of a three-year sentence for having terrorist material.

The South East London prison is home to other high-profile extremists including

Fusilier Lee Rigby’s killers Michael Adebolajo and Michael Adebowale.

Ms Khan, 41, said: “He wasn’t even a very devoted Muslim. He got radicalised while he was in Belmarsh.

“He got into all this [supporting terrorism] on the internet, but when he went to prison, something happened to him.”

Holding back tears at her home in Dunstable, Beds, she revealed she “got worried” after she heard there was in incident in Streatham – just minutes from where he had been staying in a bail hostel.

She added: “I can’t believe this has happened to my son. He was a lovely boy. I was very close to him.”

Amman grew up in Harrow, North London, living with his mum and five younger brothers, aged 17, 15, 13 and twins aged eight.

RADICAL Amman as teenager

She said he had hoped to study biomedical science before he was jailed in December 2018, aged 18.

His dad Faraz Khan is thought to have returned to his native Sri Lanka around six years ago.

A neighbour at the terraced family home where he grew up told the Mirror of her shock. She said: “I knew the lad. He was lovely boy. He was always very polite to me. I just feel sorry for his siblings.”

Jignesh Khimani, 20, a schoolmate at Park High School, Stanmore, where he studied from 2011 to 2016, said: “He was a normal boy... He kept himself to himself. He was a quiet lad.

“There were no red flags at all.”

But in his last few years of secondary school, Amman was lured into extremism.

One girl revealed he had told friends: “When I grow up, I’m going to be a terrorist.” She said: “He kept on saying, ‘I am going to bomb you.’ We thought he was joking, but he kept on saying it.”

By the time police were alerted to his extremist activity, he was studying maths and science at North West London College.

After he was arrested, police found terrorist documents including bomb-making and knife fighting manuals on his computer.

A purple notebook contained notes about explosives and detonators, as well as his list of jihadi life goals.

SCHOOL FRIEND ON AMMAN AS A TEENAGER

He kept on saying he was going to bomb us. We thought it was a joke