DADDY’S GOING TO DIE FOR GOD
Westminster Bridge fanatic’s sick boast to children before his terror rampage
THE Westminster terrorist told his children he was ‘going to die fighting for God’ weeks before carrying out the attack, an inquest heard yesterday.
Khalid Masood also hinted at his plans for jihad during a farewell visit to his mother, saying: ‘They will say I’m a terrorist. I’m not.’
Five days later, he killed four pedestrians on Westminster Bridge before stabbing to death 48-year-old PC Keith Palmer in the grounds of the Houses of Parliament. He was finally shot dead by a police officer.
The inquest into their deaths heard that he may have been attempting to attack Theresa May as she travelled between Downing Street and the House of Commons for Prime Minister’s Questions.
Masood, who regularly injected himself with steroids, began planning the rampage two weeks earlier after his application to work as a teacher in Saudi Arabia was rejected because of his lengthy criminal record.
Angry and heavily in debt, the 52year-old bought two kitchen knives from Tesco and researched ‘crash tests’ for a Hyundai Tucson which he rented for the rampage. Detective Chief Inspector Dan Brown told the inquest at the Old Bailey it was possible he had also planned to use gas as a weapon, before abandoning the idea.
Describing Masood’s video call to his children, the officer said: ‘He told them that he was going to die fighting for God.’
The terrorist drove from his home in Birmingham to Wales to visit his mother Janet Ajao six days before the atrocity.
Detective Chief Inspector Brown said investigators ‘ believe this to be what we now realise was a goodbye visit’.
He added: ‘As he was leaving the house he turned over his shoulder and said, “They will say I’m a terrorist. I’m not.”’
Kent-born Masood then drove to Westminster where he carried out a reconnaissance of the area in his 4x4. CCTV footage shows the Hyundai driving slowly over the bridge.
He then checked into the Days Inn Hotel at Cobham Services on the M25 where he watched Islamic State terror attacks on the internet.
CCTV from the hotel shows him grinning and laughing with the receptionist as he checked out. Masood then drove to Brighton and stayed at Preston Park Hotel where the staff log describes him as a ‘nice man’.
On the eve of the attack, he ate fish and chips and called his wife and children – who were under the assumption he was travelling to Morocco to work as a teacher.
The following morning he researched Prime Minister’s Questions and homemade bombs on the internet before leaving for London.
He carried out another reconnaissance mission around Westminster and spoke to the hire car company by phone and asked if he could extend the rental date.
Minutes before the attack on March 22 last year he sent messages to his wife and friends in which he attempted to justify jihad.
He selected a number of Islamic texts to justify his attack – but there was no specific reference to what he was about to do. His wife Rohey Hydara sent him at text saying: ‘I need to speak with you urgently I called u earlier today.’
Masood did not respond and moments later he carried out the murderous attack.
Miss Hydara sent him another message asking him to explain himself, but it was too late.
The inquest heard Masood had previously made comments to his children about Mrs May and Donald Trump.
Gareth Patterson, QC, representing families of the victims, said: ‘He complained about racism and rudeness from the president and
‘Alcohol did not agree with me’
described Theresa May as a liar and said she was sick.’
Mr Patterson suggested that if he had been targeting the Prime Minister, he would not have been the only terrorist to have done so.
Masood converted to Islam during two prison sentences in 2000 and 2003. He subsequently taught English in Saudi Arabia before working in the UK as a teacher for foreign students.
The terrorist was married three times and had a fractured relationship with all of his wives.
After living in various homes across the South East, he moved to Birmingham with his third wife and their children.
He also invited his younger daughter from his first wife to stay after her GCSEs – but she left amid concerns that he was trying to abduct her.
Masood joined a Muslim dating website called Pure Matrimony and wrote to women about his life before his conversion – when he was called Adrian Elms.
He said: ‘As a normal disbeliever I drank in pubs but alcohol did not agree with me and sometimes I got into bar fights. I have a line on my face from a knife slash.’ Masood
told a former colleague that he wanted to return to Saudi Arabia with his family, because it is a ‘utopian’ country with ‘no discrimination’.
The father- of-four tried to convert this friend by showing him Youtube videos of Islamic miracles.
‘He became a lot more animated and wanted to talk about Islam and why I should convert to Islam,’ the former colleague said.
Masood made 12 increasingly desperate calls to the Foreign Office in 2016 to try to secure a visa for Saudi Arabia. But he was refused entry because of his criminal record.
The inquest heard that his Islamic current account, savings account and credit cards were all overdrawn or over their authorised limits.
Jonathan Hough, QC, told the hearing: ‘It was clear he was struggling with money and was in debt at the time of his death.’
In just 82 seconds Masood knocked down Kurt Cochran, 54, Leslie Rhodes, 75, Aisha Fade, 44, and Andrea Cristae, 31, before stabbing PC Palmer. Dozens more were injured.
Masood was driving at an average 31mph before crashing into railings. The rampage ended when he was shot dead by a plain-clothes officer.
The inquest continues.