London Bridge jihadi taught hate to pupils aged 4 at school set up by fanatic
THE ringleader of the London Bridge terrorist attack was a teacher at a primary school where he is feared to have radicalised children as young as four, The Mail on Sunday can reveal.
Khuram Butt, 27, taught Koran classes at Eton Community School in Ilford, East London, an independent Islamic school for children aged three to 11. It is suspected that he used the classes to expose pupils to his extremist beliefs.
Just two months before the terror attack, the school was inspected by Ofsted and given a glowing report, which even commended how teachers had fulfilled their obligation to spot and halt extremism in pupils.
This was the very time when Butt was preaching his twisted version of Islam, justifying violence and hatred towards non-believers.
Butt taught in after-school classes as an unpaid volunteer.
The school had previously been known as Ad-Deen Primary School and was exposed by The Mail on Sunday in 2014 as having been set up by an extremist called Sajeel Shahid, 41, who trained the ringleader of the 7/7 attacks at a jihadi camp in Pakistan.
Shahid also set up Ilford’s Ummah Fitness Centre – a stone’s throw from Eton – where Butt also worked as a trainer and is feared to have radicalised other young Muslims.
Butt taught at the school in the months leading up to the London Bridge atrocity in June, when he and two accomplices killed eight and injured dozens.
Community sources in East London have told The Mail on Sunday how Butt held Koran classes at the school as a volunteer teacher on most days of the week.
The after-school lessons were attended by most of the school’s primary-age pupils, who number up to 30. There are 30 other children at the school of nursery age.
The Mos understands that social services at the local Redbridge Council have now been alerted, as well as the Met Police, who are trying to identify the pupils to see if they have been radicalised.
The school’s proprietor and head teacher is Sophie Rahman, 41, the ex-wife of Shahid. It is believed she has handed to police the names of pupils she fears might have been radicalised by Butt.
The school, which charges £2,400 per year per pupil, was inspected by Ofsted in February 2016, and again in September last year. On both occasions, it failed to meet required standards.
A community figure, who did not want to be named, said Butt ‘should not have been teaching at that school as so many kids could have been groomed by him’.
The inspections said pupils were being taught in ‘unsafe’ environments, and the school failed to take measures to prevent pupils from going missing from education.
However, in April 2017, two months before the London Bridge attack, Ofsted inspectors said they found the school had improved.
The Met said: ‘Police are aware of Khuram Butt’s connection to the school and we are working to address any safeguarding issues.’
‘So many kids could have been groomed’