From quiet roots he grew into violent adult

Khalid Masood’s death as a crazed extremist gunned down on Parliament’s cobbles after slaughtering a policeman and three other innocent people was a far cry from his quiet Kent roots.

The keen schoolboy footballer grew into a troubled adult in and out of prison for a string of violent crimes including slashing a man with a knife after a boozy pub row with “racial overtones”.

Questions remain over where the man born as Adrian Russell Elms to a single mother in Dartford on Christmas Day 1964 was radicalised.

Reports suggest it could have been during one of his stints behind bars, while others point to time allegedly spent working in Saudi Arabia, home to some of the most virulent Islamic extremism.

His mother, Janet Elms, is believed to have married Phillip Ajao in 1966 and the killer called himself Adrian Russell Ajao as one of his many identities over the years.

Masood’s criminal career dated back to 1983 and included convictions for assault, GBH and possession of an offensive weapon. This led him to spend time behind bars at Lewes Prison in East Sussex, Wayland Prison in Norfolk and Ford open prison in West Sussex.

One of his jail terms was a two-year stint for a fight in 2000 outside the Crown and Thistle in Northiam, near Rye in East Sussex that left a man needing 20 stitches in his face.

A clearer picture of Masood’s movements is beginning to emerge.

The manager of the hotel said the terrorist had been “laughing and joking, telling us stories about where he lived”, hours before the atrocity.

Masood stayed in the Preston Park Hotel, near Brighton, the night before the attack.