Westminster attacker told his children: ‘I’ll die fighting for God’
THE Westminster terrorist told his young children he “was going to die fighting for God” in a video chat days before the attack, an inquest has heard.
Khalid Masood, 52, who killed four pedestrians and a police officer on March 22 2017, also told his mother, Janet Ajao, six days before the attack: “They will say I am a terrorist. I am not.”
Police were not made aware of either comment before the attack.
At the Old Bailey yesterday during the inquest into the deaths of the victims, a timeline was presented of Masood’s movements before he drove an SUV over Westminster Bridge, killing Kurt Cochran, 54, Leslie Rhodes, 75, Aysha Frade, 44, and Andreea Cristea, 31. He then stormed Parliament’s gates and stabbed Pc Keith Palmer, 48, before being shot dead by a police officer.
Det Ch Insp Dan Brown told the inquest that on March 10 2017, a day after buying two large kitchen knives at a Birmingham Tesco which he used to kill Pc Palmer, Masood researched his local Calor Gas centre online.
Police believe there is a “high chance” he attempted to get hold of gas canisters, but he did not visit the store.
The court was told of Masood’s violent history, including a criminal record dating back to 1983 when he was just 19. In one incident in May 2003, for which Masood was imprisoned, he stabbed a man in the face “with such force” that the end of the blade broke off.
The court heard that one ex-girlfriend told police “obsessive, intelligent and narcissistic” Masood “would have loved the attention and fear he has caused” and that his religion was “a front and an excuse to hurt people.”
His attack was carried out on a Wednesday, the day of Prime Minister’s Questions. It was also revealed that Masood frequently told his family that Theresa May was “a liar” and “sick”.
CCTV footage of his movements, including reconnaissance trips over Westminster Bridge, was shown to the chief coroner.