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Emwazi Was 'Vulnerable' At School: Ex-Teacher

Mohammed Emwazi, the Kuwaiti-born Londoner unveiled as Islamic State fighter 'Jihadi John', has been described as a vulnerable pupil who needed the approval of others.

A teacher, who was close to Emwazi from the age of 14 until he left Quintin Kyanston school in west London aged 18, said he was in other respects an ordinary pupil.

The woman said: "I would describe him as vulnerable. I would also describe him as having low self-esteem and therefore needing reassurance that he was doing well with his work.

"But he did achieve well at the school, and there were plenty of signs for him to be able to feel good about himself."

The teacher added: "He didn’t particularly stand out in any way. I think it would be fair to say that he had a small group of friends.

"I recollect that he certainly enjoyed football and he was very passionate about football. I think there were examples or instances of arguments with other boys and students and that did lead to allegations of bullying.

"But they were dealt with through normal school procedures and nothing again stood out that was particularly concerning."

Speaking exclusively to Sky News the teacher, who did not want to be identified because of sensitivities surrounding Emwazi, said she was shocked at what had become of the former pupil.

"It's incomprehensible to me that a young person who appeared to have such a positive route into adult life could become the monster that he appears to have become today," the teacher added.

"And I keep asking myself over and over again why? How did this happen? What could possibly have changed in his life to have taken him down this path. And I’m not sure we will ever know the answer."

But despite claims from a number of different sources that Emwazi led a normal life whilst at school, the government has revealed it is investigating evidence from the time the 27-year old studied at Quintin Kynaston.

"We are looking through evidence available from the time," a spokesperson said. "It's a very different school now than it was then."

The Department for Education has downplayed claims that it is investigating a number of other schools whose former pupils have travelled to Syria to fight.

But Sky Sources said that the Metropolitan Police counter-terrorism command SO15, the secret intelligence services and other government departments were conducting intense investigations into potential radicalisation of school pupils.

There are also ongoing questions about the University of Westminster, where Emwazi studied between 2006 and 2009.

Soon after graduating he travelled abroad to Tanzania.

Security sources have told Sky News they have evidence he intended to travel to Somalia as part of a network of extremists, although Emwazi and Cage Prisoners, the group that has represented him, say that he travelled to the East African country to go on safari.

One student said he believed it was highly probable Emwazi had been radicalised whilst studying at Westminster.

"I wasn't shocked at all when it turned out ME had been a student at the University of Westminster," said Jack Hart, who studied at the university at the same time as Emwazi.

"There was such an environment where radical views seem to be stimulated, that it's not a shock at all."

Meanwhile, a former boss of Emwazi has said he was "the best employee we ever had".

He was "very good with people" and was "calm and decent", according to the head of an IT firm in Kuwait, which hired the then 21-year-old as a salesman.

He also expressed shock the person he had known was behind the reign of terror in the IS videos.