M15 had f ile on Masood

WESTMINSTER killer Khalid Masood had been investigated by MI5 for alleged links to Al-Muhajiroun (ALM), the MoS can reveal.

One source said British security services were alerted to Masood in the aftermath of the 2005 terror attacks on London because he was an associate of a leading figure in ALM later jailed for ‘preparing acts of terrorism’.

MI5 opened a file on him and a source said: ‘For us it was like, who’s the new guy on the block? He must be pretty well connected.’ But following more surveillance, he was not considered to be a significant player.

Masood was born Adrian Russell Elms to an unmarried teenage mother and is believed to have converted to Islam while in jail for violent assault.